A New Mission, A New Love
by MillieSaenz
Summary: After the Snakehead Mission Alex feels as though his entire life is falling apart. He wants nothing to do with MI6 but he knows that it's a drug he can't escape. Soon he goes on another mission and is placed with a spy his own age he feels as though he regains his life, through her, once again. And soon Alex finds himself falling in love once again on a new mission with a new girl
1. An off Day

The crowd was loud and boisterous as Alex walked thorough his school's halls and pushed his way through the students. It was the week after winter-break and many of the students weren't glad to be back. And though he was in a large crowd surrounded by a sea of faces he couldn't help but feel alone.

Sabina had just left for California again the other day leaving Alex and Jack all by themselves in his uncle's large house. He was back to a normal lifestyle. Back to school; back to him and his housekeeper. Back to Tom; back home. But why didn't he feel like it?

When MI6 said that they probably had another mission for him sooner or later, he knew right then that he probably didn't want it. And for the past three days he had felt like he was simply walking on the air. Was it because mission, spying, and gunshots had become a part of his life? Was it because after what he had experienced in his previous mission had left his heart feeling empty and sad? What was it?

But then he gave a deep thought and knew that it was because everyone he was starting to love in his life…were being ravished away.

His Uncle Ian—shot in a mission; his godfather Ash—killed in his last mission; Sabina—forced to move to San Francisco California so that she and her family could be safe. Who was next? Jack? Tom?

His thoughts were jarred as one of the students finally crashed into him making him fall backwards and the room spiral.

"Watch it!" his voice sounded more filled with anger than usual. He was changing. His attitude showed it.

"Sorry," it was a girl, she extended a hand to help him up, "I'm really sorry I wasn't watching where I was going."

He took her hand and sat on his heels, he didn't get a good look at her as he started picking up his maths and history book.

Soon he realized that the history book wasn't his. Instead it this one had circular skulls with wings, a rebel sign, and many quotes.

"That's mine." The girl said. It wasn't until now that he had noticed she had an American accent. He handed it to her. He wanted to say something to her when the school bell rang and the hallway flushed out all of the lingering students.

"I have to go." The girl took her book and darted down the hallway, taking out a piece of yellow paper. "Nice talking to you!" she yelled as she turned a corner and disappeared.

_Same to you_, he thought, Hah, _what're the chances that I'm going to see her again? Well, none. Oh, great now I'm talking to myself and answering myself. Something's seriously whacked._

He ran down the hall and got into his class. All he had been able to tell of the girl was two things. 1. She was American. 2. She had jet black hair.

But something in him told him that this girl would be in his life for quite sometime now.


	2. Make Me

After waiting for four long hours to pass, lunchtime finally came. And as Alex waited in line once to get his meal the harsh pang of loneliness hit him hard once again.

A dull ache resounded in his heart, and his head swam with images of his past. His eyes filled with tears and his soul felt cast out and bruised.

_Stop it, Alex! _He told himself, _Don't make a fool of yourself here! Tearing up's only gonna make it worse._

As he reached in the school's large, metal water container, someone shoved him aside and grabbed the last Dr. Pepper in the whole bunch.

"Hey!" he called as the person put herself in his place, "Dude, seriously no cutting!"

The girl just nodded her head and laughed. She turned around.

"Our first impression this morning wasn't really good," she said.

In his mind, Alex gasped. The girl's voice was the exactly like the one he had heard when he ran into the American girl in the hallway.

This time he got a good look at her.

She was almost as tall as he was--5' 7' at the most--she had wavy, jet-black hair that came down to the middle of her back, pale white skin, red, crimson lips, and dangerously gray eyes.

She was stunning, and had it not been for the next thing that she said he would've actually been attracted to her.

"So," she cocked her head, "if you don't want to make another bad impression on yourself i'd advise you not to make me put one in your face, okay, squirt?"

Alex tried to restrain himself from saying anything negative to her. She was new. She didn't know the ropes of the school so instead he said, "There's no cutting in the lunch line here. You either wait your turn or don't go at all."

"Oh, come on don't give me that B.S. What are you the principal or something?

"I can do as I please and though I'm not British, i do believe in violence."

She turned her back to him and stayed in front of him.

Alex's patience was starting to well up in him, testing how long he could hold it before he had an outburst at her. _Calm down, man. If the principal sees you get angry at a girl it'll all be over. _

"I think that even though you're from another country that you would know what a rule is." Alex said trying to get his place back, "See, unless they're different from where you're from, 'you're not allowed' means you can't and again I"m saying you can't skip. So, Miss Smart Butt, move or--well, or else."

Alex knew he was acting childish, the only left in his sentence was "or I'll tell on you" but he really he wasn't ready to deal with this kind of trash at this hour of the day.

She laughed again, "You're really starting to tick me off, Dorkfest.

"Since you're like being all five-year-old-ish here's something for you: Make me."

She turned around and put her hand up to her forehead, but instead of doing the original loser sign with her index finger and thumb she put up her middle finger and thumb.

"Make me, loser."


	3. MI6 Calls Again

Alex saw the gray-eyed girl hurl her pale fist at him, before her hand could make contact with his face he grabbed her arm and twisted her it behind her.

He had told her "else", but he hadn't really thought that else would come to kicking out his black belt.

He went to pull her closer toward but before he could she extended her leg and kicked him square in the abs.

Alex's breath ran out of him as he hit the cooler and the handle stabbed him in the back, bruising his side.

He slid down the cooler and put his hand on his hurting ab. _Geez!_ He thought, _how the heck could she do that?!!_

The American girl put up her fists to where they were level with her jaw, "Come on, roadkill," she taunted, "show me what you got. Although from what just happened I don't think that it's much." She popped her neck once and cocked her head in a movement that made Alex want to kill her.

With quick speed, he lashed out his leg and kicked the obnoxious girl in the ankles causing her to fall backwards. But before she hit the ground she extended her hands and landed with a back flip that held her upright. Bouncing back once she made a motion with her hands that meant _come on, loser_.

Alex bounded up and went toward her. He extended his hands toward her waist in an attempt to grasp her and hold her in a tight grapple that would hold her until she was bruised.

He got her.

She fumbled backwards and tried to get out of his grasp but found no avail. Finally, she lashed out the palm of her hand and hit him in the temple--blurring his vision as pain swam in his head.

He lost his hold on her and she finally curved around him, able to sit on him and hold his hands behind his back.

_No!_ Alex yelled as she held him down with her bodywieght. For once he had found someone that just might be better than him at fighting. _But how??!! This isn't right!!! God! This isn't right AT ALL!_

As he looked to his side he saw that many of the students were staring wide-eyed at the two students with a gaze that told Alex that they couldn't believe a girl--an American--had beat him at his own game.

"Enough you two!" a tall, blonde, woman with small square glasses entered the cafeteria and chastised them, "This is the most proposterous thing I have ever seen in this school! Both of you in my office now!"

Two of the faculty staff grabbed Alex and the girl off of each other. One of them grabbed her by the arm and the other grabbed Alex. The girl looked back at him and gave a scowling look toward him. As she turned her head around she put her free arm behind her and flipped him off for a second time.

Anger grabbed Alex and thrashed him around.

"Calm down, boy," the staff said to him, "It'll be over soon."

Soon they were walking down a pale-colored hall and into a room whose door said _Principal's Office_. Never once had Alex been in the office--not until this kid had come. He stepped into the blue-walled room and sat in one of the two chairs that were in front of the headmaster's oak desk. The girl sat in the other. The two faculty staff members left and suddenly silence screamed in the room.

"So," the principal , Mrs. Olivia Svenson, sat in her black leather chair and asked, "I'm sure that after this...quarrel that I have no need of introducing you."

They avoided each other's gaze as the teacher made the inquiry.

"Actually," the girl said, "we didn't get that far before Alex took a swing at me."

Alex swung his head to her, "You are not going to blame this on me!" he said, "The entire school saw you try to punch me."

"Well," she swung a white-booted leg acoss the other, "You surely aren't trying to blame little ol' me. I'm just a new student who doesn't know the ropes." She cocked her head again.

"What!?!!"

"Alright, enough you two! Now do you know each other or not?"

"Why the heck would I know this loser?" she jabbed a thumb at Alex.

"No ma'am we don't."

"Well, then Alex Rider meet Cassandra Luving. She just flew in from America just the other day--"

"It's Carter," the girl corrected, "I hate Cassandra, my name's Carter."

"Your _nicname_ is Carter." Mrs. Svenson said.

Carter made a clicking sound with her teeth and said, "Whatever, 3-0-4."

Alex almost released an outburst, but luckily he was able to keep it in. (If you don't know what 304 is put it on a calculator and put the calculator upside down. When you do don't count the 3 only the 04)

The principal ran her tongue over her teeth. "The other schools told me alot about you Carter." she pulled out a large black file with blue letters that said "Cassandra Luving" on the front. "Let's see...you were expelled from your first school 'Charter High School' for fighting, drinking, and...appearantly starting a gang fight. Same as the other four school's you transferred to in New York."

"Yeah, so?" Carter lifted an eyebrow, "My aunt finally had a enough with me and decided that we should move to this dump called England."

Suddenly, Alex's phone gave three loud beeps. So did Carter's.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I just-I, yeah." he looked down at his phone. On the screen, in bright red letters read _One New Message._ He pressed a button that let him read it. It read:

_Alex, come to the Royal and General Bank today, right now. Alan Blunt and Tulip Jones are in need of your arrival. MI6._

Quietly, Alex swallowed the lump in his throat. "Um, Mrs. Svenson," he started, "I just got a text, um, Jack--my guardian--she's uh, in the hospital. May I--"

"Oh, of course. Just be sure to make up for it tomorrow at detention after school."

Alex groaned, saying, "Yes, ma'm."

"Um, Mrs. S-even-sun," Carter couldn't pronounce her name right, "Yeah, uh, can I go to the bathroom for a moment. I'll be right back.."

"There's one back there."

"With a window?" Carter went toward the door behind Mrs. Svenson.

"Yes. Why?"

"No reason." quickly Carter got into the bathroom.

"Good day, ." Alex ran out of the office and out of the school, leaving his backpack and everythig that he brought.

_Why the heck does MI6 want me now. I guess they didn't get me killed last time so they're gonna try this time. Dang it!_

He bounded onto his Mountain Bad Boy and pedaled as fast as he could toward the Royal & General Bank...once again, bullets, firearms, and dangers weregoing to be a part of his life.


	4. They're Back for a Third Time

In about twenty minutes, Alex was walking through the doors of the "Royal & General Bank" or as he knew MI6-trying-to-be-undercover.

As he walked in, a receptionist walked up to him and asked, "Are you Alex Rider?"

Alex nodded once.

"Okay, please come with me. I was told to retrieve you."

_Retrieve me?!_ He thought _what the heck! Am I some kind of pet now?_

The woman walked him into an elevator and starting pressing the buttons. She pressed in 1-2-2-0-G and suddenly the elevator was going backwards instead of upwards.

_That must be new._ In less than a minute Alex was walking into a gray hallway that had no pictures or any life at all.

"Right in here," the receptionist opened the door beside her and left.

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat and walked into Alan Blunt's office.

As he closed the door, Mrs. Jones came up from behind him and said, "Welcome back, Alex."

"Jesus!" he hit himself against the door, "please, I am begging you do not do that to me."

"Forgive me," Mrs. Jones smiled. She was wearing a cream colored business suit with a black necklace that swooped down to her chest, her odd haircut was the same as always but today an actual happiness seemed to radiate in her.

"I'm really glad you were able to come, Alex," she said, "we're in need of, well, your assistance."

_Assistance my foot!_ "Skip the fancy talk—skip the fancy talk you need me for another mission, eh?"

She chuckled quietly, "Yes, yes, we do."

Alex sighed, "Have you told Jack?"

"No, not yet, the last time we spoke with her she—well, she gave us a few choice words of her own you might say."

"Jack will be Jack."

"Yes, she has definitely proven that fact.

"But now to the point, Alex: we need you for this mission, it'll be quite a doozy of one at that but we are in dire need of your assistance so…will you please help us again?"

Suddenly, the sounds of shooting bullets entered into Alex's mind and the flashback of seeing Ash lie dead on the floor flooded his memory. The screams of people dying and the last words of every person that he loved filled his heart. Was he ready? Was he really ready to get into the action again, to become another James Bond?

He was silent for a moment.

Then:

"Well…can you show me what this mission is? If you do I'll give my response immediately afterwards."

Mrs. Jones bit the inside of her lip, "I suppose we could do that." She gave him another tender smile, "Come with me."

They left the office and walked back down into the hallway. Two doors down they entered a room whose door said, "Tech Room".

Inside, the walls were white, the ceiling was white, and the floor was white. There were computers and chemical charts and machinery that—Alex guessed—were meant to make equipment. At the back of the huge room was a large screen. In front of the screen were two chairs, a small table and a glass of water.

"Sit down, Alex."

He sat, "Where's Blunt?"

"Not here at the moment, but he will arrive shortly."

She sat in the seat next to him. "Ready?"

It was like asking him if he was ready to bungee jump without the bungee cord—merciless.

"Ready," his voice came out as a still quiet gasp.

"Alright." In her hand she had a small remote, she pressed one of the buttons and suddenly the screen came to life.

"Now then," she began, "about two months ago, a murder happened in this building—the Royal Apprentice Business Building,"

A large building popped up on the screen, it was at the least seventy stories high with black, one way windows that shined in the sun.

"The victim was Monsieur Clive de la Hein,"

Now on the screen was a man with jet-black hair, strangely tight-looking skin and a gray mustache that curled at the tips. He looked like a rich man. He was a rich man. "Well, in the end the police were able to find his killer, which really his information doesn't matter, so carrying on.

"But this has been going on for the past year. Over seven businessmen were killed in the last twelve months and every time there is a killing there is always a note left behind."

On the screen, a black piece of paper with white ink written on it was being held out by for tacks, on it, it said:

_**Riddle me this, riddle me that, but make sure to not make it whack.**_

_**The R.A.B.B. is my next plot, so soon to see you London Police lot! But too late you shall be, o yes, yes indeed, to answer the black call, the call of deceit-- for again I shall strike whether high or whether low but I'll always make my killings go with the flow.**_

_**Signed,**_

_**The Black Magician!**_

Alex read the note and began to move about uncomfortably.

"Of course," Mrs. Jones continued, "he always changes the destination. R.A.B.B. stood for—"

"--stood for Royal Apprentice Business Building." Alex finished.

"Yes, that was how we were able to track him down but unfortunately we got there too late.

_Too late to answer the black call of deceit_. Alex thought.

"But so far we were able to trace the chemicals on this note and it led us to new suspicion. This,"

On the screen now, there was—what looked like a valley of warehouses. They were steel black with gray roofs; each warehouse had a chimney and out of the chimney blew constant smoke. At the front of the lot was a sign that said, Special Corps of Regional Pollution Indirect Aid.

(Don't be a hater! I had no idea what to put down but I needed the first letters of every word =)

"We looked up the details of this place and found that it was a company made to try to destroy air pollution. But if you notice the smoke we realized that they are not dealing in helping the environment at all—so two weeks ago we sent an agent to view what the place was. Come to find out it's a chemical facility whose experimental guinea pigs aren't rodents at all but rather humans. In this company we also found large amounts of drugs and alcohol.

"We tried to shut them down but the law said that there was no evidence in anything that our agent found. So we tried again and guess what we found…"

Alex had been following all her suspicions but now he was stumped. He shrugged.

"I want you to read the first letter of every word in that company name."

Alex leaned forward, _S…C…O…R…P…I…A._

"No…"

"Yes, seems like your two victories against them hasn't brought them down a notch.

"Now we believe that they are responsible for the killing of de la Hein because just a few days earlier he had been prepared to make a lawsuit against Scorpia for negligent care of the chemicals they have been spreading—but also we believe that he was starting to get the hint that this was the world's deadliest terrorist group at steering wheel again.

"We were preparing to the same to them but every time we try to get them down, they're able to hide everything that we've set up against them. So now they've been able to get to such a high place with such high technology that we can't bring them down.

"So, Alex this is your mission: if you agree, we're going to send you to an area near there—of which the closest we found was a family but I'll get to that later—and we want you to be able to sneak in and try to get any evidence that you can about this new plot that Scorpia's made. It shouldn't be all that threatening this time because you're going to be placed with another agent. But your main object is to go in, get anything to shut them down, and get out. Nothing else, Alex, nothing else at all. We just need one tiny bit of evidence that will shut down Scorpia…for good this time.

"Now to do this, you will be staying here, at this house—well rather mansion,"

A cream-colored mansion appeared on the screen now, it had a black bar fence around it and a fountain placed in the center of the front yard. Four black cars were in the front and two people—a man and woman—stood in the front of the gate.

"What is this?" Alex asked.

"Where you'll be staying." She answered, "It's the closest place near Scorpia that we could find, and also it'll be the safest place for you to stay at.

"You see, there's a new organization going on here at this house that is hosted by these two—Charlie and Abigail Joust. The organization is a foundation for bringing the 'bad boys' and 'bad girls' in the world to a new character. It's like a reformation program."

"Like Point Blanc?" he asked.

"Yes, just nothing of the cloning.

"So we're going to send you down there—to France—as a 'bad boy'—as well as your partner—and from there you will have a pretty good location on Scorpia."

Alex retained all the information that he had in his head about the mission and decided that there was really no real danger in this, he'd be in and out this time; no hold backs, possibly no gunshots or deaths or anything.

"So," Mrs. Jones stood up, "will you do it?"

He inhaled, "Yeah…yeah I'll do it.

"But now for the question I've been meaning to ask you for a while,"

"Yes?"

"Who exactly is my partner? Who am I going to be working with?"

"This time it's going to be no adults. This spy is your age and I believe a lot like you."

"Really?"

"Yes, she's a transfer from the C.I.A. She actually just got off a mission three weeks ago.

"The Intelligence Agency is following along with us on this one and decided to send her in. She's been working with them since she was twelve so she has a little more experience than you at this. She is a black-belt at martial arts just as you, American—as you can suspect, and also from what I've heard a very good computer hacker."

"Wow…"

"And here she is now…" Mrs. Jones looked beyond the room and waved.

Alex stood up but couldn't see the girl. Suddenly he heard a lot of thumping and yelling.

"I am telling you to LAY OFF!" yelled a voice, "Gosh! Ever heard of personal space?!!"

"Oh, um, Alex, I should warn you," Mrs. Jones whispered, "She is a tad bit hardheaded and really, _really _stubborn."

"God!" the girl came in smiling as if she had never yelled.

"Hello, Mrs. Jones." Her voice sounded sweet and innocent—and familiar.

"Hello," Mrs. Jones said.

The girl had her back to Alex the entire time, her hair was put up in a ponytail, and she had a black and pink, plaid, mini-skirt, and knee high, white boots.

"Alex," Mrs. Jones stood him up, "I want you to meet your partner…"

The girl turned around.

_Oh. My. God._

"This is Cassandra Luving."


	5. New Gadgets and Gizmos

"Why the heck are you here?!!!" Carter's words sounded more like a chastisement then a question, "You're supposed to be at the hospital visiting you 'sick guardian'."

"Yeah, well you can't say much either!" Alex's temper suddenly rose in him as she scoffed.

"I can't believe this!"

"You two know each other?" Mrs. Jones was very confused, her voice said it.

"We met at the school," Alex answered, "But not on good terms."

"What do you—"

"This isn't possible!" Carter yelled, "All the other agents in the world and somehow I end up with the dufus that can't even pin me down in a fight!"

"A fight! What—how did you meet?"

"Well, I'm not exactly really happy myself, Cassandra." Alex and Carter weren't even paying attention to the question's Mrs. Jones had been asking.

"Oh, shut up you son of a—"

"Hey!" Mrs. Jones clasped a hand on both Carter's and Alex's mouth, "Enough of this!"

"Get off of me!" Carter snatched down Mrs. Jones hand, "This isn't your problem!"

"Oh, you'd better believe that it is, young lady, now both of you sit down and not a word!"

Alex had never seen Blunt's secretary act this way, he never thought she was capable of it—_can't judge a book by its cover, an agent either_—he and Carter sat in the two seats in front of the screen.

"Now then," Mrs. Jones began, "Carter knows everything about the mission and so does Alex, you both know about the murderer and his victims, and, also, you know where you will be staying.

"So now I will tell you when I want you to strike and when I want you to leave the mission."

Swinging her leg over the other, Carter made a sound that signified that only a minute of listening and she was already bored.

"After at least a month that you're there, the Jousts will hold a charity ball for the organization and also for the fact that most of their students will have been 'reformed'—as you might say—by then, because, we're putting you in the group a little late, like their-year-is-almost-over late."

"So what about the ball?" Carter asked, popping her neck once.

"That night will be so packed that you'll be able to leave the building and strike without being caught.

"Once you leave, gather as much evidence as you can and go back to mansion. There a car will be waiting to bring you back here."

"Lady," Carter said, "This sounds too easy, why don't me and bozo here just find out who the head of this warehouse-thing is and kill him?"

"Because that is too dangerous," Mrs. Jones argued, "We don't want to get you killed out there."

Carter scoffed, "That'd be a first for government organizations. What's wrong? Afraid to get a lil' teenage blood on your hands?"

"Enough, Carter,"

For a moment Alex heard his words come out of the dark-haired girl's mouth, the fact that it didn't matter if he died because to the government he was just another agent who either lived or died.

"Whatever," Carter rolled her eyes and slouched in her seat, her skirt sliding an inch more up her long legs.

"Now," Mrs. Jones clasped her hands behind her back, "You'll both be leaving tomorrow morning for the mission. It'll be a two-hour flight so you'll both be able to talk during that time and solve all the little _difficulties_ you have between each other—but for now these young men--

Two men in black suits came up from behind them.

"Will take you to our gadget maker, Smithers."

Carter and Alex were held by their arms as the two fellow agents took them down to Smithers' workplace.

Carter never glanced once at him as they were forced side by side.

_God!_ Alex yelled in his mind, _why the heck would MI6 even dare pair me up with someone as stupid as she is?!_ He knew that in her mind she was probably asking the same thing.

Finally, they came to a steel door that had black lettering that said DO NOT ENTER PROHIBITED AREA AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY

"In here," one of the agents opened the door and led them inside.

"I am very capable of walking by myself, thank you very much!" Carter wrenched her hand away from the man.

He said nothing.

Alex's guard let him go and allowed him to walk freely.

Inside there were computers and screens and machines that were very identical to the ones in the other room he had been in, but here people were actually working on projects as they walked in.

The room had two stories, a glass elevator led to the second one.

All the people inside were testing machines, running machines, were dressed in white lab coats, and were sometimes writing things down on a tablet. Smithers—Alex guessed—was the head of all this.

"Agent Smithers," the man bellowed, "we have a couple of recruits you need to supply."

"Really?" Smithers voice emanated from behind a pile of black boxes, "And might I ask who they are?"

"Luving and Rider." The man pushed them forward by the spine of their back, "Enjoy,"

Smithers came out from behind the boxes, a broad smile on his face. "Alex!" he yelled, "Welcome back—though to be truthful you haven't been gone all that long."

"I know," Alex replied.

"Sending you off on another mission, eh? Well, at least you have a _charming_ partner to go along with you this time."

_Charming my foot!_ Alex thought.

"You must be Cassandra Luving, from the CIA," Smithers extended a meaty hand toward Carter, "Pleasure to meet you."

She gave a tight nod, "Same here. And by the way they call me Carter…not Cassandra."

"Of course, forgive me.

"Well, I suppose you are in need of some gadgets, no?"

Alex smiled, "Why else do we come to you?"

Smithers gave a hearty laugh, "Yes, well, Mrs. Jones told me all about your mission and I think that I may have just the things for you, come with me."

Smithers waddled his weight to the other side of the room, Carter and Alex followed.

"Here we are…" Smithers took them to a large slab of marble that was ten feet long and four feet wide. On it were several weapons of many sorts.

"Now then, I heard you were going to another one of those reformation groups, so I had to think up a lot of things that seemed to have helped you in your mission at Point Blanc."

He held up small, round, black, ball, no bigger than a quarter.

"This is a spy camera; it's small so that it can fit into the tightest places. You just use this remote--"he held up a gray remote that had four buttons on it and looked like a small disk, "To direct its path. I thought you could probably use it when you're going into that warehouse. There are two of them so you both can be able to go in different directions when needed."

He picked up two square iPods that looked completely ordinary—but were totally not.

"Now this, this is one of those things that kids have been using nowadays so I thought I'd make something of it. If you press the middle button quickly three times then press the fast forward button once, a thin small laser will come out of the hole where you insert the headphones—like this, watch,"

Smithers pressed the middle button three times then the fast forward button once, out of the bottom shot a read thin laser. He aimed it at the piece of metal on the slab of objects and watched in fascination how it sliced through the metal with the ease of scraping butter onto a knife.

"See there," Smithers smiled at his own work, "also if you hold down on the middle button for fifteen seconds it'll send a call out here for help. We'll be on our way in no time."

Alex didn't care for the last part of the gadget, Smithers had added it to his saw CD player and though he had transmitted the signal, MI6 had refused to come.

"Now there's this and it's mainly for you Carter,"

He held up a small, purple, metallic, tube that had a silver strip across its middle. The top of it was an actual top of which Smithers slid off and, rolling the sides, pushed up a molded piece of lipstick.

"Lipstick?" Carter asked sarcastically, "I already have some."

"Ah, but not any ordinary lipstick; this lip wear if you press the top, while it's still connected to the tube, against anything it'll send a 30,000 watt voltage into them."

"Really?" Carter lifted her eyebrows as she examined the outside of the lipstick, "So if _anyone_ gets on my nerves I can press this against them and they'll be out like a light?"

"Correct, also the lipstick itself is made with some chemicals that if smeared on anything it'll melt through it—kind of like that zit cream I gave you on your first mission, Alex."

Alex hadn't heard a word Smithers said after Carter made her inquiry of _anyone_ getting on her nerves, for she was smiling like a wolf at him and he immediately knew that _anyone_ mainly meant _him_.

Smithers lifted up a pair of Gucci sunglasses—one for him and one for her.

"There sunglasses can actually x-ray through the clothing of people and see what they have underneath, you just have to press the small G on the side of it and voila!"

"_Really_," this time it was Alex speaking his mind as he slipped on the glasses and looked at Carter. He knew nothing would happen, for all he could see was her skeleton and the outer shape of her clothes.

"Whatever," Carter rolled her eyes.

"Also, since Mr. Blunt doesn't allow guns I made—"

"MI6 doesn't allow guns to us?!" Carter bellowed, "How on earth are we supposed to defend ourselves if someone fires at us?"

"Allow me to explain," Smithers said, picking up a pistol and placing in it a red cartridge, "These guns are actual weapons. They're 9 millimeter guns that can pack a punch—but since you're not allowed them I made some ammo that will stun the enemy and not kill them.

"The red cartridge is the tranquilizer and this blue cartridge--" he held up a cartridge exactly like the red one only this one was blue, "is a truth injection. Shoot it into someone and they'll immediately be stunned and tell you the truth."

"That's cheesy," Carter was looking at her black-painted nails as she spoke.

"It's practical," Smithers said.

"Also, I provided a few weapons just in case someone knows who and what you are and decides to attack you in the building."

He held up a small dagger that was three inches long and had a black hilt. It was inside a small black sheath and attached to a thick cord.

"This can go under your clothing—mainly around your leg—and not be seen on the outside,"

"I'm guessing this is for me," Carter asked as she placed the dagger on the high part of her thigh.

Alex tried his best not to look down as she raised her skirt and adjusted the strap—but even he couldn't deny that all parts of her were attractive.

"Of course it is, and this is for Alex," he took out a ring that had many bands that when he put it on it crossed over three of his fingers and looked like a brass knuckle ring.

"A brass knuckle?" Alex asked.

"Press down on all three of them at the same time for three seconds then let go as fast as you can,"

Alex did what Smithers told him and when he removed his fingers the rest of the three bands looped completely around four of his fingers and four, two-inch long spikes bulged out of the bands.

"Wow!" Alex exclaimed. _I really have use of this!_

"Exactly,"

Smithers sat in a chair near them and said, "Well I have earnestly supplied you once again, Alex, Carter, now go do what you were hired to do.

"Go spy."


	6. The New You

The next day was a little difficult for Alex.

First: he was dreadfully tired because he had had to put up with all of Jack's protests of letting him on the mission all night. Even when he had pretended to fall asleep he could still hear her arguing to herself.

Second: because that day he had to mail a letter to the school saying that he was sick—again—with strep throat and scarlet fever and that the doctor told him that he didn't know when he could return to school. He didn't like doing that. It was like he was saying the same old lie all over again; sooner or later someone had to find out that he was out of the country playing James Bond.

Third: because that day was the day he would have to depart to France and also he and Carter would have to get their disguises. He hated the fact that MI6 was going to use him as their little dress-up-mannequin—again!

As he pedaled slowly down to the Royal & General Bank, thoughts of his new assignment were starting to drift in his mind.

Technically he was supposed to scout out the new facility that Scorpia had, try to find any evidence that would expose their experiments and shut them down for good this time.

But then he began to think, what about the murderer, The Black Magician? Had MI6 caught him? Then he remembered that Mrs. Jones had said that they had apprehended the killer of Monsieur de la Hein and arrested him.

But…how could it have been that easy? Wouldn't have Scorpia tried to hide him somewhere so that MI6 could get them? What was the point in ordering a hit-man when he was going to get caught?

He wanted to ask MI6 these questions but he knew he probably didn't have time to. But then there was one that was burning in the back of his mind…had the government agency of the United Kingdom captured the wrong guy? Impossible. Alex shook the idea out of his mind and pedaled faster to MI6.

He drove into a puddle that was deeper than it had appeared and now water had splashed all on the top of his pants up to his thighs.

_Crud!_ He thought, _now I have to hear that stupid girl's voice make fun of me. Darn it! _

Alex had told Jack all about Carter, how she was snobby, headstrong—or to him, stubborn, how she was always being a smart aleck to those that were higher than her and how that she was unbearably beautiful.

Alex couldn't deny it. Carter was gorgeous! But what made up in beauty took away in attitude. Had she not been so…rebellious the first time they met he would've actually considered asking her out. But the obvious came by and that changed his plan for good. Jack had laughed at this when he told her and then she began to taunt him that he probably liked Carter. All feelings for that brat were gone!

As he reached the bank he parked his bike on the side of the building and bid it farewell, then—shoes and pants wet—he entered the building and the same receptionist took him into the elevator and into MI6.

This time she led him down a different hall and into a different room. That was where Mrs. Jones, Alan Blunt, and—unfortunately—Carter.

Mrs. Jones was dressed in a black business suit and had on no jewelry, her odd hairstyle still had its…oddity, and that same happiness Alex saw the other day was there as well.

Blunt—as usual—was gray. His pale skin looked more like wax than skin as he stood motionless beside Mrs. Jones, and he wore all gray as usual.

Carter looked different than yesterday. Today her black hair was let down—the ends were touching her shoulder blades—and she was dressed in a pair of loose-fitting, black pants that covered her shoes and had a chain on one of the pockets, she had on a tight dark purple shirt that showed her belly button and seemed to suffocate her chest. She was sitting in a chair with one leg over the other and scrolling through a black iPod—her own hopefully.

"So," Alex said, trying to break the strange silence between them four, "Are we gonna do this or not." He tried to make his voice sound enthusiastic although he really, really, really, wasn't.

Mrs. Jones smiled. "Right this way." She pointed towards another section of the larger silver room to where there were salon chairs and whatnot that would make Alex…not Alex

He gave a deep breath as he sat in the black salon chair and closed his eyes as he felt the hairdresser do his job…

He felt water slosh around on his head, some kind of gunk get rubbed into his hair, and finally heard a few snips of scissors. He didn't get a chance to look at himself in the mirror when they dragged him off to another chair and started messing with his arm. He felt a warm sensation and then a hard prick.

"What the heck are you doing!?" when he looked down he saw on his white, English, arm a black and red tattoo that said, "No Mercy". Two skulls decorated the sides and a chain wrapped around the words,

"Please tell me that is not real." He pleaded; Jack would never let him hear the end of it if it was."

"Of course not!" the tattooist said, she was a brunette with a heavy Italian accent, "It just kind that no come off in 'bout…two months."

Alex rolled his eyes. He would still not hear the end of it.

Finally they put something across his wrist that looked like a scar.

_I guess since I'm bad boy slitting wrists is in the plan as well_.

Involuntarily, they made Alex be still for them to pierce his ear.

Finally, they dressed him in a pair of baggy pants, a chain for a belt, and a large shirt that came to his thighs.

Then…he looked in the mirror.

He stifled any emotion as he saw that they had snipped his hair to where it had a shaggy look, and had dyed it…black; stark, raving, black. He couldn't believe it. The stud in his ear was a round diamond. And the tattoo on his arm definitely gave him the finishing touch.

This wasn't him. Just live with it, Alex, it'll be over in a month. To his perspective, he looked like a thug from some kind a gangster movie.

Suddenly it occurred to him that if the dye wouldn't come out until his hair grew…Jack would_ kill him. _.

"What do you think?" Mrs. Jones asked standing beside him.

"Well…" Alex stifled a sigh, "It sure doesn't look like me."

"That's the point,"

"You're really making that clear."

"Won't Carter be alarmed to see you?" she laughed.

All of the sudden Alex was eager to see how they had left Carter. He would soon find out.

Alex fingered at his new black, locks, waiting until he could leave.

He looked down at his black Conroe shoes that were barely visible from the hem of his torn pant leg.

Nausea suddenly swept over him like a wave in the ocean.

_I was wrong_, he thought, _I'm not ready for another mission…I…I can't do this. _

For once he felt tears in his eyes—but these were actual tears that he might not be able to hold back.

_Enough of this_, He wiped the tears away with the back of his hand, _I can't believe I thought that I could do this…I can't…I'm…weak…too weak._

"Hey,"

Alex wiped the last of his tears quickly before turning around.

Carter was behind him.

He almost let out a gasp when he saw her, she was…beautiful.

In her hair were two strands of pink and purple highlights. She had gotten a dark tan in the tanning bed so now she looked like she was more from Mexico than from America. Her gray eyes looked bright against her now almond-shaded skin, her lips looked darker and she had a hoop piercing in the top of her left ear.

She was wearing white skinny jeans and a tight, hot pink, spaghetti strap, tank-top.

In a way she still looked like Carter, in another she looked nothing like the smart-aleck brat Alex had met.

"Here's your file," she said, throwing a think yellow folder into Alex's lap, "or in other words the new you."

She turned around—black hair swaying—and walked away.

In her back pocket, Alex could see the small tube of lipstick jutting out.

_She wasn't kidding about the shocking_.

He stood up and followed her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*

The heel of Carter's stiletto shoe wouldn't stop tapping on the floor of the plane; it was a rhythmic tapping that was starting to annoy Alex ever since they got on the plane.

Another thing that annoyed him was the fact that when MI6 had said plane he had though private plane. Of course the good things were going to back fire on him. It was a coach seat in the smallest United Kingdom's Airlines plane he had ever been on.

A lady behind him had been trying to calm down her wailing baby ever since the plane had taken off, a man in the front of them was constantly complaining to the steward and stewardesses about the flight, and across the aisle two ten-year-old children were fighting non-stop.

Carter's foot kept tapping for five more minutes…

Ten minutes…

Fifteen minutes…

"Carter!" Alex put his hand on her slim leg and the tapping stop, "Please,"

"Keep your hands to yourself boy." She jerked her leg from his grip and swung it over the other. She started tapping with her other foot.

"Oh my God, will you freakin' stop?!"

Carter looked at him with hateful agitated eyes, "Shut up," she said.

She pulled the tube of lipstick out her back pocket and twirled in between her fingers, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"You wouldn't," Alex scolded.

She gave a light chuckle. "Try me,"

She skimmed the tube over his leg, her fingers brushing lightly on him.

She got closer to him and blew in his ear, saying, "I dare you."

When Carter blew in his ear, Alex went numb. His pulse quickened, his heart raced, a chill went down his spine when she touched his leg and his lungs forgot how to breathe.

She whispered in his ear again, "Look I know what you're thinking, but, I gotta tell Brit boy," her lips brushed his earlobe slightly sending another chill down his spine, "you can't have any of this."

She pulled away and walked out of her seat into the bathroom.

Alex slouched down in his seat, trying to remember how to breathe.

_I really shouldn't have come on this mission. She's going to drive me CRAZY!_

He looked out the window and saw that the clouds were starting to clear up. _Just one more hour of this flight with her and it'll be over…or at least being this close will be over. _

"Hey," a guy from the very front looked at Alex and motioned to wear Carter had gone.

"Nice pick," he gave quick thumbs up and turned around.

Physically, the guy was right, there was no denying it.

Mentally, his thoughts were way behind


	7. Arrival

Name: Garrett (G) Alex Losten, born in Wales, England, UK. Physical appearance:

5' 9", fair hair, brown eyes, two scars on his wrists and a tattoo near the shoulder on his left arm.

Reason for shipping to the Power Point Academy: For the past four years Losten has been a rebel in his school, academic organization, public affairs of his parents--Senator Henry Losten and wife Julie--etc. He has been placed in juvenile hall five times, each he was released two days afterward because of a bail out by his father. Each of the juvenile prison times were because of several things, such as drinking at a minor age, vandalizing school property--please see page 48 for photos--and possession of drugs.

Note for PPA: The senator and his wife have done everything in their power to help their only son, several boarding schools were attempted even a boot camp was put at the boy but nothing has been working. They are no longer are able to control the child in--

Alex shut the file.

_Crap_, he thought, _I'm supposed to pretend to be this?!_

Pretty much he had to be someone completely different than he. Someone totally opposite. Someone who had drank, done drugs, almost destroyed their previous school, done auto theft, fought in every boarding school their rich parents had sent them too--not him!

He looked put the taxi's window and sighed.

He didn't need this right now.

He had been stupid enough to come on this mission and now to learn that this was what he was to portray. It only made it worse.

They had gotten to the France International Airport only an hour ago. The people at the airport--fellow agents from the France Secret Service--got them and their luggage and shoved them into the small yellow taxi. Carter--annoyed by the rush--had landed a few choice words to the agents, each of which produced a swear word in between every sentence, as well as some unnecessary blows.

Alex had restrained himself from laughing as he saw the grown 6' 5" burly man knocked onto his back and be stepped on by a 5' 3" fourteen-year-old girl.

He smiled to himself as he remembered.

At the moment, Carter was listening to her iPod and twirling the tube of shocking lipstick between her fingers.

Her foot started tapping again.

_Rap,rap,rap,rap,rap,rap,rap,rap,rap,rap,rap,rap._

That was all Alex heard.

That was also something that Alex had just discovered about Carter. When she was bored, impatient, or waiting she tapped her foot too fast. It sounded more like a buzz than a tap really. Much like how a smoker would move their foot leg when their trying to quit.

She put down the tube of lipstick--stuffing it in her pocket--and reached for a bottle in the other.

The bottle was orange with a white top and black strip across the middle. It was a medicine bottle.

She popped of the cap and dropped two dime size pills in her hand. She tossed them in her mouth and Alex heard a hard swallow come from the back of her throat.

In less than a minute the tapping stopped.

Alex looked at her suspiciously. What were the pills? Medication? Relaxers?…drugs?

"What are the meds for?' he finally asked. They hadn't spoken since the flight so he knew this would probably break the ice pretty good.

Carter hadn't been expecting him to ask about the meds so it took her three seconds to realized what he was asking.

"The…Meds?--Oh! Oh, these," she pointed at the bottle, "Here," she handed him the bottle, "find out for yourself."

Earlier he had noticed that she had been scribbling on something--now he knew what.

" 'None of your business' ", he read. "That's hilarious Carter--"

"And true," she injected.

"Seriously what are they?"

"What's it to you?"

"Lem'me see," Alex pretended to think, "the person that I am stuck with for an entire month--of whom I'm really starting to hate--just popped a couple of pills into her system and they seemed to have made her feel better. Of which I think MI6 or the CIA probably don't know and didn't give them to you so I--"

"Oh, my gosh!" she slapped her hands to her knees, "Will you!--gaah! All right!" she leaned toward him, "If I tell you will you shut up?"

He shrugged, "Maybe."

Carter's lips formed a perfect red line and soon her eyes looked darker than ever.

"Then I guess I'll just have to endure it,"

She jerked open the taxi door and got out.

Alex hadn't noticed that they had already arrived at the Power Point Organization; the time from the airport to there had seemed too short.

He got out of the taxi and stared past the gates they had driven through.

A man with blonde hair, a leather jacket, and a cigarette in his mouth was leaning against the gate.

When the man saw Alex had seen him he dropped the cigarette, put it out, and walked away.

Alex stared at the place where the man had once been, deep in though.

Had that man been an agent? Maybe from MI6 or maybe the CIA or maybe…Scorpia?

"Hey, Rider," Carter elbowed him in the side, "Focus! The Jesters are coming to greet us."

"Ouch," Alex put his hand on his ribs, "They're the Jousts."

"Mmh, I care why?"

Alex rolled his eyes. He turned around and saw a woman come out of the cream-colored mansion and toward them.

"Okay, now, Rider," Carter whispered, low enough for only them to hear, "don't you dare blow it, okay? We got one chance at this thing so at least try to be bad boy."

Carter had gotten her cell phone out and was pretending to text. She leaned on the door of the taxi and looked like she was bored.

Alex tried to mimic as much as possible. He sat on top of the trunk of the car, put on the sunglasses MI6 had given him and turned on his own iPod. He put the music loud enough so that the Jousts could hear it as it blared in his ears. The song was "Love Addict" by Family Force Five, so he was sure that all they heard was the lead singer yelling and the electric guitar playing.

"Hi!" the woman squealed as she approached them, "You must be our new students!"

Alex had to turn the music down enough so that he could hear her. Her voice was high-pitched and giddy, it didn't sound like the voice of a thirty-something-year-old woman, more like from a blonde cheerleader chewing bubblegum. She also looked nothing like the woman in the picture.

She seemed to only be an inch or two shorter than he, her brown hair was in a style to where it was short and spiked--it reminded him of the movie he had just seen, Twilight, it looked almost identical to the character Alice Cullen--her eyes were a dark milky, brown color and all on her arm were black and white bracelets.

"I'm Mrs. Eva Joust," she extended her hand for them to shake it.

Carter's thumbs never left the keypad of her phone and Alex turned his music back up.

With a shrug, Mrs. Joust lowered her hand.

"You must be Silver," she talked to Carter, "Silver Massey, right?"

Carter scoffed, "Whatever,"

"How old are you?"

"However old the file says I am."

"Oh, yes, I remember. You're about…mmh…fifteen?"

"Fourteen," she corrected.

"Oh, okay!"

Then she turned to Alex.

"You must be Garrett Losten,"

Alex didn't move. He pretended to ignore her.

"Your nickname's 'G', right?"

"Sure, sure,"

"Can you…" she motioned for his sunglasses.

Alex rolled his eyes and took them off, shoving them into his pocket. He knew it was a mistake immediately when Carter threw him a dirty look and pushed the car with her heel.

Obedience. That was his mistake. He had obeyed when he shouldn't have. Because he was a bad boy.

Suddenly, the cab driver was talking, yelling a stream of words in French.

Mrs. Joust nodded quickly, saying something that sounded like an apology. She gave him some money and motioned for Alex to get off the trunk.

Alex rolled his eyes and hopped off.. The trunk popped open and he and Carter grabbed their luggage.

Mrs. Joust waved and shouted, "Aurevoir!", as the cab driver sped off through the gate.

"Well," she said clapping her hands together, "why don't you two come in and I'll show you to your rooms."

Mrs. Joust yelled a word in French and suddenly two large men dressed in hotel-style-uniforms came and grabbed their suitcases.

O…kay. Alex shoved his hands into his pockets and followed her and the men.

As they walked into the mansion, Alex couldn't help but stare at all the things in it.

There were beautiful paintings hung on the walls, antique ones done by Leonardo DaVinci and more recent ones by Thomas Kinkade.

Statues were between almost every corner, and vases with flowers set on top of extravagantly carved cement pedestals. The floors were checkered black and white and the walls were a pale cream and to the left was a winding staircase with an ivory carved vine flowing down the rail. Past the staircase was a room with a large window that extended from the ceiling to the floor and stood as a wall.

Alex looked ahead. Mrs. Joust was rambling on to Carter about the make of the mansion and what not, she was pretty distracted and the two men in uniform had disappeared so he snuck into the room quietly.

He opened one of the doors that closed it off and--it was cracked midway that was how he was able to see the window--and stepped in.

The floor here wasn't checkered like the one in the hall, this one was wooden and like the ones in a ballet studio, and the walls were a dark ivory with not a single picture on them. There were no curtains on the window and no lines through it. The sun blared in brightly, shining exquisitely on what had attracted him there.

A piano…

Alex walked over to the black piano, skimming his left hand on the raised top and his right barely touching the pearl white keys.

He touched the piano gently, pressing down on a black key lightly.

His secret…

"You play?" Mrs. Joust's squeaky voice made him jump.

"Uh…" he looked at Carter, who was leaning against one of the heavy doors with her arms crossed, she smiled at him.

_Whoa!_ "Not really," he started his lie, "when I was ten my dad forced me to learn."

"Oh," Mrs. Joust mused, "well, why don't you follow me; I need to show you your rooms."

Alex walked out of the room. Mrs. Joust went ahead of them, Alex stayed behind and--surprisingly--Carter stayed beside him.

"Thanks for leaving me with miss-annoy-much." Carter complained, "She just gave me a lecture about how the house was built--which somehow changed to what I should do with my life. Ugh, it was sto-pid!"

Alex laughed at how Carter made her voice sound like a gangster.

"Glad, I missed it."

"You better be, Brit boy.

Alex chuckled softly,

He figured that maybe, just maybe, Carter had a soft side under all that anger and irritation. He hoped he could touch it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Every room in the mansion was large, the mansion itself was large--unfortunately, as always, the good things were never going to happen to him. He discovered that the mansion was "just for show" and that it really was the home of the Jousts. The real Power Point Organization was two acres behind the mansion.

The building was just as large as the mansion, but no where near as grand.

It was three stories tall, made with brick, with a black prison-like gate that surrounded it; that was just one of the dormitories, there was a building behind it that was exactly the same--another dormitory; on both sides there were a series of small buildings that eventually connected and formed several small squares--much like the school in Tom Brown's School Days. The buildings were the school.

The front building was the girls' dormitory, the back was the boys'.

Carter didn't look back as another teacher--a woman with waxy-looking skin and sickly-looking-blonde hair--came and took her to her dorm.

Alex followed Mrs. Joust to the second building.

When they got in, Alex knew why most of the kids sent there were a success. The walls were a muddy brown color, the floor was ivory-cream colored, the stairs looked like that of an airport--boring and nothing grand about it. The only light on the first floor was of six fans that hung with all their might and darkened the room more than lighting it. There was nothing--NOTHING--grand about it. The kids were probably success' because they wanted to get out of this dump.

"Right this way, Garrett," Mrs. Joust bounded up the depressing stairs. Alex went behind her slowly.

When they reached the top floor, Mrs. Joust ran to the last door on the left and jutted a key into it.

"Right…in…here." she said as she turned the key quickly.

When she opened the door, Alex was partly afraid of what the room would look like--the front room wasn't exactly the best impression.

"Hurry up, Losten!" she grabbed him by the elbow and jerked him into the room. All sense of happiness in her voice was gone.

The room itself was pretty large, it fit two full size bunk beds in it, two bean bags, a gaming chair, a desk, a television, and a large dresser.

Three boys were in the room.

"Welcome to the Power Point Organization," Mrs. Joust said the words as if they were venom.

His two cases flew into the room, making Alex dodge them, and landing on the floor with a thump.

"See you tomorrow,"

The doors slammed shut.

Alex turned around to look at his new roommates.

One of the boys was playing some kind of videogame on the television--occupying the gaming chair--one was sitting in the desk, and the third was laying on the top of one of the bunk beds.

Six eyes were on him, then four of them turned back to their activities.

"Well, you guys are friendly," the boy on the bunk said, hopping off the bed.

He was taller than Alex anticipated, at the least 6' 1". His hair was blonde and it showed that it was dyed because his roots--at least an inch out--were dark brown, and he had pale blue eyes.

"You're…Jared, right?" he asked.

"Garrett," Alex corrected.

"Oh, right. My bad. Well, I'm Tyler." he didn't extend his hand like Mrs. Joust had--thank God--but turned to point at his comrades.

"Sorry 'bout the welcoming committee; we've gotten so used to new kids coming and going quickly that we forgot how to say 'hi'." he kicked at the gaming chair, jerking the boy in it a little.

"The one playing is Edward--we just call him Ed."

Ed just looked back at Alex then back at his game. He had dark brown hair and green eyes and his long legs let Alex know that he was pretty tall.

"The one at the desk is Jay,"

Jay looked at Alex, smiled, then continued his work on a piece of paper.

His hair was light blonde and he had hazel eyes that looked dreary.

Alex didn't say anything.

"Um, well," Tyler ran his fingers through his shaggy hair, "Ed's on the bottom bunk of your bed so you'll have to take top."

Alex shrugged. He grabbed his suitcase and shoved it by the dresser, not bothering to unpack. He climbed up the metal ladder to the top and laid down.

He closed his eyes and tried to think clearly.

One month. That was all he had to spend there. That was good.

Carter wasn't sharing a room with him. That was even better.

But he'd have to see her everyday anyway. That took away from his goodness.

They had decided earlier to sneak out as close to Scorpia as possible in two nights. That was good, again.

They were going to see what it took to get into the warehouses and see if they could get a glimpse inside to confirm MI6's suspicions. It would be quick and--

"How old are?"

Alex jerked his head up. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed Tyler blabbing on and asking him questions.

"Uh," it took Alex a minute to think, he was supposedly a year older than his actual age, "uh…fifteen."

Tyler nodded.

Alex laid back down.

"You're really quiet aren't you?" Tyler asked leaning on top of the ladder.

Alex shrugged, "Just got a lot on my mind."

"Yeah? Like why'd your parents dump you here?"

Alex flinched, Just go with it, man, "Yeah, that's one."

"Or how Mrs. Joust turned all dark on you when she put you here."

Alex chuckled, "Yeah, that's another,"

"Or how the ad is a piece of crap,"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Ty!" it was jay yelling at him, "The Late Years came again!"

"Aw, sweet!" Tyler leapt off the ladder.

Alex was suddenly curious.

"The Late Years?" he asked, getting down as well.

"Yeah," Tyler said, he and the other two gathering at the window, "it's a group of really hot girls that come at the last month of the year."

Alex walked to the second window beside the one that Tyler and the others had gotten huddled against.

He opened it and sat on the sill, one leg in the room, the other dangling outside. He decided to get a good look at these "really hot" girls. He saw two black cars drive into the small square of the dormitories, parking together like an arrow.

A man came out of the first car, he opened the door to the backseat, and helped someone out.

The girl gave the chauffeur her well-manicured hand and stepped out.

She was wearing a black miniskirt with fishnet hose and stiletto heel boots. She had a black short sleeve belly shirt that barely made it to her ribs, and her hair was blonde and curly and reached down to her waist.

She looked up at him and winked.

"Who's that?" he asked, "The blonde in black."

"Oh, her?" Tyler stared out the window, "That's Amy, short for Amelda."

"Like Imelda Avery?"

"No, with an 'A'."

Another girl came out of the same car.

She had medium-brown hair that was styled into a pixie cut and cut like a boys in the back. She had mini-jean-shorts and a bright orange shirt, her heels made her stumble out of the car oddly rather than normally. Amy rolled her blue eyes.

"And her?"

"The brunette? That's her little sister Bella, short for Isabella."

Out of the second car came two girls arm in arm. They looked exactly the same. Twins, except that one wore a pink mini skirt, a white shirt and had her hair down, while the other wore dark denim skinny jeans, with a blue shirt and her dark hair up in a bun--two Chinese chopsticks jutting out of it.

"And them?"

Tyler groaned, "They're the Placci sisters. Twins obviously. The one in white is Melanie; the one in blue Melinda--or Mel."

"What's wrong with them?" Alex stared closely at the twins. They were pretty hot. They were black with soft brown hair, they had long gorgeous legs and a slim body.

"Nothing really, except that they--all four of 'em--only date the kids here that are practically wearing money."

"Oh,"

All the girls--Amy, Bella, Mel, and Melinda--were really hot, but none could compete--he hated admitting it--with Carter.

"Who's that girl?" Jay asked.

"Which one?" Ed looked around.

"The one at the fountain--right the 'wow' one, whack job."

Alex smiled.

In the middle of the square was a fountain of two women pouring water basins from opposite sides, and there--sitting on the edge--was Carter.

"I don't know," Tyler said, "but, dude, she's…wow."

_Exactly,_ Alex thought. "Her name's Silver," he said.

"You know her?!" Tyler asked abruptly, swinging his head toward him.

"Alex shrugged, "A little,"

"How much is a little, bro?" Tyler got closer to the window. To get a better look at Carter no doubt.

"Met her a couple of days ago"--true--"then our parents shipped us off here."--not rue.

Carter looked up from the fountain to meet Alex's gaze. He couldn't tell if she had smiled or not but there had been a twitch of her mouth before she got up and walked away from the fountain.

Alex looked back down at the four Late Year; they had been staring at Carter as if she were a piece of trash, and though he didn't necessarily like Carter, he didn't like that they had.

Amy smiled at him again, flashing her brilliant white teeth and running over them with her tongue.

The girls giggled as Alex hopped off the window sill and back into the room.

He shook his head, smiling to himself, and began to unpack

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max Grendel sat in his seat warily, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. He had an illness, his eyes would water nonstop , so far he had made no effort to have it cured. He didn't want to risk having questions asked about his job.

Being one of the executives of Scorpia made him lie a lot and, though he was in the terrorist organization by will, he didn't appreciate the scam too much.

Because of his disease and job he missed out on a lot of his old life. Such as playing piano, reading The Works of Shakespeare , art, collecting antiques. His life was now filled with plotting and destruction, death and greed…and yet he enjoyed it.

Since Julia Rothman's death, he had been placed as the Head Executive of their new assignment. And not many of the members liked it. They had yelled and protested at the conclusion after it was made.

He smiled as he remembered their bitterness and anger.

Their new assignment had been one of their largest since their pairing with the snakeheads.

The king of a country--Lord Grat Defner-- had been at war with the Americans for quite sometime now. Almost thirteen years this following month. He had found his soldiers and army weak after the battles. Their ammunition was running low and with the habitat in which they lived was so filthy many of the recruited men were not healthy and died on the field almost immediately.

He had found the scientific root of Scorpia's organization and had asked for help.

After careful thinking the organization had decided to help him--for a price. The price was a sum twenty billion dollars, antidotes for the human body did not come easy, and they would be paid gradually in diamonds. So as to not raise suspicion.

Grendel had just come from the laboratory to see how the antidote was coming. The head scientist--John Palmer--had said it was no success only a week ago. But now they had found something that would make it stable.

The antitode was a serum that required a human to lie in it for a full thirty-six hours. It ended up strengthening its muscles and rejuvenating the body to a place where a large wrestler would die to have.

The skin afterwards was harder to penetrate, but not impossible, and the strength than was tripled.

The antidote could make any person--man or woman, boy or girl--almost invincible.

They named the green experiment, "The Warrior Drug" and had named this assignment, Invincible Soldier.

But unfortunately they were still testing. Many of the test had resulted in their experiments death. But as they continued to search, Palmer had said they may have stumbled upon something to stabilize it.

If so the antidote would be ready to ship to the king in three weeks time.

Grendel smiled.

The CIA, MI6, even the KGB had no idea what was happening. They thought it was some kind of new drug they were creating and were using the humans to test it.

They were off. From what his inside spy had said they had absolutely no idea what was about to hit America in their war.

Grendel almost laughed.

The Australian Secret Service had been dumb enough to let Ash join them, who ended up being a betrayal and almost brought their downfall. Unfortunately he died.

Now the MI6 were allowing that to happen to them. How stupid.

His phone rang.

He reached into his pocket for the small mobile phone that he carried. He couldn't read the name so he opened it and answered.

"London Local Library this is Craig how may I--" he always answered his calls as a store or a department. If the caller was somehow connected to him they would know it was him, if not they would hang up because they believed they had a wrong number.

"Grendel?" the other person replied.

"Yes," somehow because of his attitude he was always able to tell when his agents were nervous--especially when they called him on his own private phone--but it was difficult with the agent he spoke to now.

"I got in the organization at about four thirty. I haven't been able to make contact with you until now because of some roommates. Everything seems to be going according to plan."

"Has the boy caught onto anything?"

"No, sir. I've just been smiling and waving."

"Good, my dark magic, you'll be out by the end of the month--that is when we will be sending the serum to Defner--Rider will be dead, and you'll be able to return here to Italy."

The woman was quiet on the other end.

"Remember my dear, just smile and wave."

She scoffed, "Bite me,"

The line went dead.

Grendel smiled. He loved his new agent--of whom he never called by her name because she asked him not to. Something about her gave him the patience to wait a month for Rider's death. She was a natural temptress. She could gun him down easily.

Her brilliant, white, smile was only one of this goddess's charms.


	8. Wrong Hit

I am soooo sorry i haven't put more of the story sooner I've been so busy with school and some of my axtivities and--well You don't really need the entire lige story do you LOL well i hope you enjoy this chapter!

"_I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I--"_

"_SILVER, SHUT UP!" Alex leaned over the table and yelled at her, "Repeating yourself and annoying me isn't gonna help!"_

"_I don't give a darn!" she said back, "You're not the one stuck with the Late Years!"_

_It was noon the next day, they were sitting across from each other at a long white table alone. Alex didn't know if his roommates were going to sit by them because they were the "new kids". _

_For the remainder of the last night things had been pretty laid back. Alex got unpacked, he put his clothes in whatever remainder of the closet there was and he kept his gadgets nearby. His iPod (the laser one) in a loose sole of one of his shorn sneakers that he would never use again--the ones ASIS had given him, he had decided to keep them as a memory of his last mission._

_As if his death wasn't enough, _Alex thought. He refused to think of his godfather's name, every time he did it brought up the sadness he wanted so desperately to lock away.

He kept the camera sphere in his pillow, the sunglasses hanging on one of the bed rails, and kept the brass knuckle on his fingers.

Then he had taken out his uniform and looked it over. It wasn't much different than that of Brookland's uniform, just mainly the colors were different.

A dark navy jacket, khaki pants, a white shirt, with a blue and white tie, and very uncomfortable brown shoes. The school's logo was on the left side of his jacket and shirt--over his heart, go figure!

The girls uniform was more…_revealing_ than he had ever seen it. It consisted of a blue, white, and khaki plaid micro-mini skirt, a blue cardigan, a white shirt and brown shoes--which Carter refused to wear and wore her black high ankle Converse sneakers.

The next day, Alex found that the classes were pretty much like his old school's had been. The classes were co-ed so Alex first thoughts were something he would never say out loud and _Lightening bolt now!_

But nothing was in comparison to the torture that he was enduring right then.

Carter--wonderful, charming, Carter--just _had_ to sit with him and just had to complain about everything to him.

"You're sharing a room with them?" Alex repeated.

"That's what I just said, lame brain." Carter put her head to the table and made a sarcastic groaning sound, "They…won't…shut…up!"

"Looks like you have a lot in common."

"Shut up, Rider," Carter mumbled, "I hate it! I was actually tempted to actually use that knife Smithers-what's-his-face gave me."

"You didn't, did you?" Alex almost jumped up.

"You think if I did they'd still be over there laughing like stupid mules."

"Guess not,"

"Ugh, I have such a headache!"

"And I'm starting to get one from you."

"Shut…up."

Carter reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out the bottle of pills. She popped two in her mouth and washed it down with the bottle of water that came with her lunch.

Alex sighed, "Car--Silver, what are those?"

Carter looked at him with tired eyes, "What you read before, 'none of your business'."

"Silver--"

"No, G, listen this is the only privacy in my life--it's not even really privacy any more--and well that's how I want to keep it right now.," she shoved the pills back into her pocket, "When the time's right I'll tell you. Until then, stop digging your British nose in it."

Just then Tyler, jay, and Ed came beside Alex and Carter.

"Hi," Tyler sat by Carter, his voice was milky and warm, "I'm Tyler--Garrett's roommate. You're…?"

"Silver, G's friend."

"Almost enemy," Alex mumbled to himself.

Carter kicked his shin. Obviously he hadn't mumbled it low enough.

"I'm Ed," Ed extended his hand to her.

"I'm Jay," he extended his as well.

Carter crossed her hands and shook theirs.

"Silver,"

"So hey, I wanted to tell you guys," Tyler leaned on his elbow, "maybe tomorrow night or something we were thinking"--he looked at his companions--"of maybe freaking the Late Years. You know just make 'em jump. It's kind of a tradition of ours, you know, for them. You guys wanna tag along?"

Carter's face perked up, "I'm all for it."

Alex rolled his eyes, _Of course you are_, "Sure, why not,"

"So, like, tomorrow night?" Carter's waxed eyebrows pulled together.

"Yeah, that's the only night they aren't really gonna do anything."

Alex heard her grunt.

_Oh, crap, _he thought, _that's when we're gonna see the defense of those warehouses. Crap, crap!_

"What?" Tyler asked, "Something wrong?"

Tyler seemed to be getting closer to Carter by the second.

"Uh--"

"No," Carter interrupted, "no, we're not. We'll try to meet you…where do you want to meet?"

"Oh, sorry, I never said," he got closer, he slid his hand on her legs, even across from them Alex could see the movement, "here let me whisper it in your ear so that no one else--"

Carter put a hand on his chest.

_Dude, you better stop._ Alex thought in his mind.

"No one is in a ten foot radius," she said, pushing him away and reaching down to shove off his hand, "I'm sure no one will hear."

Tyler looked taken back. He turned straight in his seat--still looking at Carter--and said, "Near the fountain, about ten feet to one of the buildings. We'll meet at ten."

Carter nodded, "Done deal."

She grabbed her fork and started eating.

"You idiot!" Alex whispered sharply at Carter as they left the cafeteria, "Did you forget about Scor--", he paused, he probably shouldn't mention the name around the school, "about _them_?"

Carter scoffed, "_You're_ the idiot thinking I forgot. Pfft!

"I know that we're suppose to check out their security and we will, it's all a part of my plan."

"God, help me, and exactly what is that?

Carter stepped in front of him, both of them stopping.

"Those three dimwits are really, _really_ absorbed with freaking out the stupid Late Years--which I wish I were with them--so…" she straightened his tie as she spoke, "I figure that when they're distracted enough we ditch 'em."

"How?"

"You're fast," she smacked his chest, "run,"

She turned around and continued walking. Alex couldn't help but look as she left.

He was beginning to walk right behind her when someone came up to him.

"Hi," Amy said, her voice high-pitched and squeaky--annoying.

"Hi?" Alex didn't know what to do.

Here was the leader of the Late Years, the group of extremely hot girls, talking to him. Awkward much?

"I'm Amy, Amy Diputs," she extended her manicured hand.

Alex shook it, "Garrett Losten,"

"Cute," her voice squeaked as if she had just seen an adorable puppy, "so, like, you're the new kid, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," his legs froze, "I, um, came in yesterday."

Amy gasped, "What a coincidence! Me too!"

Maybe Carter was right. Scratch that, she was definitely right. Only a few seconds and Alex was ready to jump ship.

"Yeah, I saw you pull in."

"Yeah, that's right, you were the guy that was sitting on the window sill. Thought you looked familiar."

"Amy!"

Another girl came running to her side.

"I've been looking all over for you! I--oh, hello," the brunette flashed her eyes from Amy to Alex, "I'm Bella Diputs."

"Oh," Alex tried to act surprised, "you guys are sisters?"

Amy scoffed, "Hardly," she put her hand in Bella's face and pushed her away. Bella yelped as she stumbled backwards into another student.

"Ignore her," Amy said, "she's such a pest."

"Amy," two voices sounded. They were so harmonized they almost sounded identical.

"Amy," the first one said, "we've been looking--"

"--all over--"

"--for you."

The twin had added her voice so quickly that it sounded like the first had never stopped talking.

Their focus changed, "Hi," they said.

"I'm Melanie," the first one said.

"I'm Melinda--or Mel," the second said.

_Oh my gosh!_ Alex thought,_ They're flocking around me like birds! Where the heck did Carter go?!_

Finally up close Alex could tell the difference between them that told them apart.

Melanie had a small dot under her right eye, Mel under her left.

"Garrett," he said.

He stared past the Placci twins and Amy to see Carter standing sideways, staring at him with fierce eyes and clenching her fists till they were almost white with her tan skin.

She exhaled sharply and kept walking.

Alex looked at his watch. His class was in five minutes.

"Uh, I--nice talking to you."

He ran quickly away from the Late Years.

He could've sworn as he left he heard Amy say, "My target,"

Alexn shuddered. He'd rather have Carter kiss him than have Amy after him.

A lot of guys probably would.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She moved with silent footsteps.

It was nighttime and no one could see her.

She scampered into the square and counted the windows.

_There! He's so close!_

She grabbed onto the cracks in between the brick and began to scale the wall of the boys' dormitory toward her target's window.

She climbed on all of the foot- and hand-holds that she could find, finally after five minutes she gave one final pull and she was on the sill of the window.

She slid in a small metal sheet and, quietly and quickly, unlatched the lock. The window swung open. She stepped inside silently, her high-heeled boots making no sound. She was so nervous then, any slip up of the target seeing her would ruin the entire plot.

She searched through the desk near the window and rummaged through the drawers. She found a piece of paper and pen and began to scribble on it.

Something moved.

Moving only her head, her light-colored eyes scanned the room. One of the boys had turned over in their sleeps.

_Calm down! Nothing's going to happen. You're just here to scare him. I'll kill him at the end of the month. The CIA or MI6 won't know what hit 'em. Not even the KGB would be able to do something this simple. _

She got up from the desk and over to her target's bed.

Looking at the top bunk she saw him sleeping. She placed the paper near his face--fighting the urge to touch him.

Shaking her head she ran back to the window and jumped on the sill. She sat on her heels and waited.

If the target woke up the moonlight would shadow her face and front of her body, making her appear more ghost than human. That should scare him.

The boy stirred, then, with a jerk, sat up.

He caught a glimpse of her as she back-flipped out of the window and stowed away into the night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex grabbed his cell phone and dialed quickly.

A groggy, tired voice answered.

"What do you want, Rider?" Carter didn't sound happy.

"Carter," Alex whispered, not wanting to wake the others, "Carter, listen someone tried to get in my room they--"

"What're you talking about?"

"Carter, _someone got in!"_

That was loud enough to make Jay snort and roll over.

"I'm going over there," Carter said. He heard something on the line. Her bed sheets rustling?

"No, don't bother, I'll just meet you at the fountain."

Carter grunted, "Better be true that someone came in or I'll kick your butt."

"Fine."

Alex put the phone under his pillow and moved to get off. His hand crunched on something noisy. It was a note.

It was too dark to read it so he grabbed his phone again and shined the light on it.

I'm watching you, love.

-The Black Magician

So he was right. MI6 hadn't caught the right guy.

The Black Magician was still out there.

After people.

After _him. _

_Oh, God, help me._

Sneaking out wasn't so hard. After he put on some jeans and a pair of shoes, he got out of the room quietly and ran down the stairs. No one was awake to stop him so he went even faster.

It took him awhile to find a way into the square, but after he did the way there made him feel utterly ridiculous that he hadn't found it sooner. It was a large door with a arched top and a slab of wood above it with letters that said Square 2

He slapped his forehead for his ignorance.

As he opened the door he reached into his pocket and eagerly. The Black Magician's note was still in there, tucked deeply in the denim. He shivered as he felt the memo pad paper.

He opened the door the rest of the way.

"Hurry up, Rider!" Carter demanded.

He went through.

Carter was standing near the fountain, her arms crossed, and a look on her face that could kill.

"Get on with it, I'm freezing!"

The wind was blowing swiftly, but it's breeze was cold and Carter was still wearing her pajamas which was just loose mini shorts, a tank top, and white house shoes.

"'S not my fault you wouldn't wear something warmer." Alex said, taking the note out of his pocket.

"Rider! I'm serious! It's like two in the morning, you dragged me out here for some thing you _thought_ you saw, and I'm freezing like a popsicle in a freezer. Now like I said on the phone: someone had better come into your room cause if not I'll--"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Alex put his hands in the air, "chill, yeesh.

"Someone did come into my room and they left this," he handed her the note, "guess who it's from."

Carter flipped out her cell phone and shined the light on it. Her eyes glowed with the dim light as they read the note quickly.

"We know two thing's now," she said, closing her phone.

"First is pretty obvious," Alex said crossing his arms, "MI6 got the wrong guy."

"Yes and no," Carter began to rip the note, putting some of the pieces into the fountain and letting others drift with the breeze. They rode with the wind like a ship on water.

"What do you mean 'yes and no'? You're evidence is--well, _was_ right there."

"What I'm saying is yes, they caught the wrong the wrong person but no, I don't think it's a guy."

Alex thought for a second, "A hit woman?"

Carter shrugged, "Could explain how all those rich men got killed so easily."

"Yeah I guess so but why do you think that?"

"Well because of that and because they called you 'love' in the note."

"Oh, yeah, I saw that but didn't pay attention to it."

"Ever heard of the saying 'Brains and Brawn'?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, then get this: I noticed the tiny detail 'cause I'm the brain, you're the--hmm, actually I'm the brains, I'm the brawn you're the 'and'."

"_Ha ha_." Alex put as much sarcasm in his voice as he could.

Carter shrugged then yawned.

"Let's deal with this in the morning, 'Kay?" she said, "I'm cold, tired, and am trying to resist the temptation of plotting the Late Years death."

Alex laughed quietly.

"Okay, night,"

Carter grunted in response.

Alex went through the door again.

He began to run back up the stairs but began to feel tired.

Exhaustion finally caught up with him as he hit the top step. He was so drowned out that he barely made it through the door and found the little strength to make it into his bed.

He got in and under the heavy covers.

The covers themselves weren't heavy it was something else. Also he didn't realize the closeness this mattress had to the ground.

"DUDE!" Edward shouted.

"Aah!" Alex yelled as his face came nose to nose with Ed's. He rambled through the covers to get out of the bed, only to fall and hit his head on the night stand.

"OW!" he yelled.

Suddenly the light blinked on and illuminated the room, making Alex put his hands in front of his eyes.

"Man, turn that off!" Jay demanded throwing his arm over his face.

"Yeah, turn it off, man,," Tyler complained, digging his face into the pillow.

"What--What the heck's wrong with you?!" Edward shouted at Alex.

"Won't happen again," Alex began to get up, "swear."

He jumped up onto his bunk in a single bound and laid flat on the mattress, not bothering to get under the covers.

"Better keep your word, otherwise I got a few questions for you."

"Fun-ne," Alex didn't care for the sarcasm that was in his voice he just wanted sleep.

He dug his face into the pillow and closed his eyes.

He was asleep before Ed turned the light off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What were you doing out so late?" Tyler asked for the millionth time, "I mean, it was past three when you got in and accidentally crawled into bed with--"

"I already told you," Alex snapped, grabbing his breakfast and a glass of orange juice, "I wasn't doing anything. I couldn't sleep so I took a walk and when I came back I was too tired to notice what I was doing."

"Mmh-hmm, right," Tyler grabbed two breakfast plates.

Alex was still astonished that Tyler was able to wolf down almost anything that dangled in front of him and still have a flat stomach and good figure.

As they sat down, Carter came to sit at the same table as them. Again, she was wearing her Converse sneakers.

"Hey G," she said putting down her tray, which contained a bagel, a couple of eggs, and two slices of bacon.

"Hey," Alex grabbed his fork and started eating.

"Um, Garrett," she had something clutched in her hand.

"Yeah?" he took a swig of the O. J.

" I found this in my room this morning," her voice was low enough that only he could hear it, the others didn't even notice them talking.

She slid the object his leg, her cool fingers gripping on his pant.

He slowly grabbed the paper and unfolded it ear his abs.

Don't think you're a lie, I know who you are. Trust me--Leave, or you and the boys die…

-Black Magician

Alex's throat constricted, he was barely able to swallow down the soft eggs.

He put the note into his pocket, "Where'd you find this?"

Carter showed no emotion toward the note.

_She's good._ Alex thought.

"When I went back to my room last night--Ooh! I forgot to tell you, guess what else I found."

"Silver, be serious,"

"I am being serious."

"Fine then, what'd you find?"

"Four little rodents snooping in my luggage," Carter ate a chunk of the bagel and swallowed, "one blonde, one brunette, and two that looked exactly the same."

Alex laughed. The Late Years were really putting their luck on survival mode.

She scoffed, "You should've heard their excuses. 'Oh my gosh'!"--she made her voice go a pitch higher--" 'This is _your_ suitcase? I had no idea.' 'It was dark, I couldn't see where I was going.' And yet, somehow, the light was on and glowing like our own personal sun, Go Figure!"

Alex choked on his food as he laughed.

"Sure, laugh it up, Rider, but guess what--they found my knife."

Alex stopped laughing.

"Crap, they probably told the headmasters."

"Pfft! Heck no, I got 'em convinced that it was a European style nail filer. Dumb broads actually believed it."

Alex chuckled softly.

He was going to eat another bite when someone's finger slid up his neck, traced his jaw line, and off his cheek.

He looked to his side to see Amy wave lightly at him, flash her smile, and wink.

"Dude," Tyler had caught what she did, "She just--you--touched--No!"

Alex shrugged, his shoulders quick. He could feel the heat in his cheeks as his roommates stared at him in something that could be explained as awe.

"Dumb blonde," Carter mumbled, stabbing at her eggs.

_What's it to you? _Alex thought.

"Amy's up to her old tricks again," Jay said, getting up to throw away the rest of his food.

"Definitely," Tyler agreed with a full mouth, "careful, Losten, she's a cat."

"Dangle some catnip in front of her and that'll keep her busy for a while." Carter interjected, she put something in her mouth and washed it down with the O. J.

_The pills…_Alex thought, _Gosh, what are those?_

"True only her catnip's money,"

"Ugh,"

The bell rang.

"Crap! I didn't notice the time, we're late."

Carter shoved the rest of the bagel in her mouth and hopped out of her seat.

"Come on, Garrett!" she grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged him out of his metal seat.

"Whoa!--bye, guys!" he called as Carter drug him out of the cafeteria.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex helped Tyler set up his trap for the Late Years carefully.

What they were going to do was place a large, fake tarantula in a small box and on top of the bow was going to be a small camera and microphone attached to it.

Hopefully what was going to happen was that when one of them--more than likely Amy--opened the box the lid would land somewhere across the room and record the girls going into a frenzy as they saw the insect. But the trick was the spider was robotic--thanks to Ed whose father was the president of an electronic devices line--so when they saw it, it was going to start walking and make them scream even more.

When the small camera in the box had recorded all the action, they were going to post it on the school's everything-on-it-is-a-lie website the first thing they were going to see was the Late Years out of control--Carter had seemed a little _too_ happy at this idea, but of course she was the one bringing back the camera to Alex and his roommates.

"Here," Alex took the camera from the top and taped it to the outside of the box and covered it all with a piece of paper, all but the lens, "They won't even notice the bulge."

"Even if they do we're still recording them with the camera on the robot." Tyler said, closing the lid.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."

"Besides like you said they won't notice it. The Late Years don't notice anything, unless it's cash in your pocket."

"What time is it?"

"Um," Tyler looked at his black and gold watch, "quarter to ten, we need to hurry."

They put the final decorations on the box and were almost ready to go.

"Lem'me change out of this uniform and then we'll go."

"Fine," Alex went to his bed. He grabbed the camera sphere Smithers had given him then went to the old sneakers to get the iPod--they might need its laser.

When he shoved the gadgets into his jean pocket, Tyler came out--changed--and saw the ratted sneakers.

"Why do you have those?" he asked, "They look like they're about ready to give up."

Alex didn't look at him, he was staring at his past when he answered, "Someone special gave them to me and…well he and the shoes saved my life." _And ruined it too. _

"Oh, what's his name?

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat, "Well, it _was_ Ash." his voice broke, _Dang it!_ "He was my godfather."

"You said 'was' is he…?"

"He"--he fought back the crack in his voice, afraid to let it out at all--"worked in the law and…got himself shot. He's dead."

"Oh," Tyler's voice was apologetic, "I--man, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried. I went too deep."

"Nah, 's cool," he tossed the shoes back in against the closet, _he bombed my life anyway _"Let's go."

They snuck out quietly, making sure their feet made no sound.

"Hey," Alex whispered, "Where're the guys?"

"Down at the square already. They left while we were still putting together the surprise." he patted the pink box that was in the crook of his arm.

Alex smiled. He couldn't believe he was going to miss all of the fun.

They went down the stairs quickly--Tyler slid down the rest of the way on the rail. He went out first, Alex followed him.

They ran across the hall of arch ways until they found the large door to the square and opened it to go through it.

"Ed!" Tyler whispered sharply but loudly, "Jay! Are you guys here?"

"Silver?" Alex called out in a louder tone than Tyler and receiving an elbow to the side for it.

"Ow,"

"Shh! I think they actually put out security tonight."

"That'd be a sight."

A high pitched whistle sounded once.

"Over there," Tyler pointed, "Let's go."

They ran across the square, past the fountain, and to the other series of archways.

"Finally!"

Alex heard Ed and Jay come toward them.

"Yeesh, guys!" Ed flung up his arms, "What took so long? Never mind, let's just go."

As they ran to the girls' dormitory building, Alex asked, "Where's Silver?"

They got to the door and Jay stuck a silver picklock into the knob, "Still in the room, that's how we're getting the package up there."

"Who's controlling the spider?"

"Ed. It's his dad's invention anyway."

The lock clicked and the door opened.

"If you were wondering why I was sent here to this school," Jay flipped the picklock in his hand then shoved it in his pocket, "now you know."

Alex almost laughed as he saw the inside of the building.

It looked exactly, _exactly_, like the inside of that Delta Nu fraternity thing on the movie "Legally Blonde". He couldn't believe Carter was actually staying here.

If Carter was a flag she'd be black and purple.

If the room was a flag it's be pink, red, hot pink, and white.

The colors were almost blinding they were so bright. Pink floor, red walls, hot pink ceiling, and white stairways.

"Come on," Tyler took six long strides and was at the stairs going upward.

They ran up after him.

Every floor was brighter than the first. The ground floor had been mainly pink, the first one was bright yellow with green trimmings, the second completely orange, and the third--Carter's--bright aqua.

"Okay," Tyler said when they reached the top floor, "Silver said to wait until she comes out then she'll make sure it gets in."

"Alright," Ed flipped a large remote out of his pocket and flicked it to life.

On the sides were several buttons to make it move around backwards, forwards, sideways, etc. And in the center was a small circular screen that flashed green then black.

"Go put the box near the door," he instructed, "we'll wait here by the stairs so they won't see us."

Jay grabbed the box from Tyler and jogged to the Late Years door, laying it down lightly.

He came back quickly and said, "I heard Silver, she said she was about to leave."

"Good," Tyler whispered.

No more than a minute later, Carter came out calling behind her, "For a walk! Yeesh! I'm not gonna be long!"

She looked down at the box and grinned.

"Here!" she threw the box inside, "someone actually thought of you as humans to get you a present."

As she closed the door Alex heard a smug, harmonized voice say, "Ugh, bye!"

Carter rolled her eyes.

She walked quickly to the boys.

"Amy caught the box so she'll probably open it." an excited edge was in her voice as she spoke.

"Sweet," Ed's remote screen flickered to life, they could hear and see the Late Years every move and word.

Amy started talking.

"Put the lid on the nightstand, Mel. Now let's see what's in this---AEEEEEEEEHHH!!!"

The box flipped over and the spider flew out. The girls finally went into the frenzy they had been planning for them to go into.

"Get it away! GET IT AWAY!" with a single bound Amy was on top of the bunk bed, screaming like a mad person.

Ed turned the spiders toward one of the twins, Melinda.

"EEH! No! Get it away! It's going to eat me! EEH!!

Carter was on her back laughing as she saw the girls; expression of fear, horror, and stupidity.

"AAH!" Bella jumped into Melanie's lap and was climbing up her body to the top like a cat.

"Gerreroff!" she yelled, "Get her--YAAH!!!"

Alex's stomach started hurting.

He saw bending over backwards as he laughed.

"Alex!" Carter whispered in his ear, her lips touching them slightly, "let's go."

He was reluctant to go but Carter yanked him by the sleeve and dragged him out of the dormitories.


	9. Blood On My Hands

It took them all of an hour to get to the warehouses--even then, they still could not get too close. Fortunately, there was a hill with a single tree--a weeping willow--overlooking the plantation.

"Why did we have to go tonight?" Alex had asked as they ran, "I would've enjoyed watching the rest of that show." he smiled to himself as he thought of the Late Years panicking at the sight of a large, fat, hairy, fake tarantula.

"Trust me, I'm just as upset as you are," Caret had told him, "but we're only going to be able to this twice during our entire stay. Tonight's to check out the defenses, week after next--on a Wednesday--is to find out where the main room is and then the night of the charity-ball-thing to shut 'em down."

"What's the main room?" Alex had been so tired of running that he needed the questions to help keep his pace.

"Where they're doing their stuff. MI6 and CIA think it's drug smuggling, like that gang that worked for Scorpia, snakehead, so they should have a main lab where it's all being done at."

The plantation had been three miles away from the school; they had run all the way there. When they went up the hill, Alex had slumped against the tree. Every one of his muscles were screaming with pain, his legs finally gone numb on him, and his lungs begging for mercy.

Carter didn't look the least bit affected by the run, the only thing that indicated she had at all was the seat on her arms and forehead.

She sat on her heels at the edge of the hill. The light of the plantation was hitting her and shadowing her, making her appear ghostly. Making her appear more familiar….

She actually frightened him when she walked back to him.

She sighed as she sat beside him.

"Did you bring your camera sphere?" she asked.

"Yeah," Alex was still trying to catch his breath.

She swallowed, "Good, if mine gets smashed then we'll still have yours."

She stood up and extended her hand, "Come on,"

He grunted as he took it and stood.

They walked to the edge and laid on their stomachs. Alex was the first on the ground, Carter was on her knees.

She threw the camera sphere with all her strength toward the warehouses.

She got on her stomach and flipped the remote out of the pocket.

The remote was simple. Like the ones of a Play-Station 2, it had three buttons on the front and two levers to steer it.

The three buttons were red, green and yellow. The green to power it, the red to record, and the yellow was a button that went forward and then snapped back--zoom.

A small screen was in the middle where she could see where it went.

The control flicked to life. The screen turned red then green with night-vision. They could see where it had landed. It was on one of the warehouses' roofs.

"Here we go," Carter said as she pressed down on the levers and pressing the red quickly.

The sphere rolled forward toward the edge of the building.

"Go left," Alex said, "there may be a drain pipe you can go down."

The sphere moved slowly to the left.

"Can you zoom it?"

Carter pushed on the yellow button and zoomed in on the edges.

"There," Alex pointed on the screen, "go down it to get to the ground."

Carter didn't look at him, didn't say anything smart-aleck to him. Her face in fact looked remorseful.

She moved it to the drain, it wobbled on the edge but finally went through--riding on the inside.

It flipped outside and rolled toward a wall. It hit the wall hard then bounced back two feet.

"Remind me to never ride with you when you drive." he told her.

"Ha ha," Carter's eyes stayed on the screen, "remind me to never take _instructions _from you again."

Alex mimicked her words quietly.

The sphere was going down something like an aisle now. The ground was gravel-ish and the walls looked like metal.

"It's in between the buildings." Carter explained as if hearing his thoughts, "I think this is where the guards make their rounds."

She steered the ball toward the building to rub against its side.

Suddenly, something dark stomped beside the sphere then lifted off a millisecond later.

"What was--?"

"Guard's foot," Carter pressed a button that was on the side, "okay…we're on the eastern part of the plantation."

"Can you get a scan of this place?"

"Pfft, heck yeah."

She pressed down on the map button and the zoom button at the same time.

A small wavering light drifted through the aisles on the warehouses--Alex could see it from the hill. Two seconds later it was done and a green graph scan on the plantation was on the screen.

"Told you I could," Carter smiled.

"Yeah but now look at the guards."

They both looked back.

Small black dots--the guards--were running around frantically.

Carter cussed under her breath.

"Well they can't see the sphere," she said, "so we're good."

She made it go forward, it went up a slope of the ground and hit a fence.

"Got your cell?" she asked.

"Yeah," Alex reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

"Text this down in your drafts."

She made the sphere rotate to see beside it.

_Okay, mien fer. _

"Okay, on the east corner there's a gate"--Alex tested down the things she said--"there's two patrols at it…on the western corner there's another guard…he has a dog, a German shepherd…" she steered the sphere down the middle path.

"There's a sewer drain right in the middle," she turned the sphere upwards, "Crap! There's one, two…four patrols on each roof. Oh! Be sure to get this, there's only one door in the entire plantation. It's the--one, three--sixth building."

"The last one?"

"Yeah," she turned the camera upward again, "Okay, there ten guards in front of that door--definitely the one we're looking for--now we--"

There was a loud rumbling sound.

"What the--?" Carter turned the camera back to the gate.

A large cement truck came in, behind it was a long eighteen-wheeler.

"What are those?" Alex asked.

"I-I don't know." Carters voice sounded confused, really confused.

She grabbed something near her chest. She put the binoculars up to her eyes and looked through.

"They're opening the truck," she said, her voice distant, "they're letting something out, it's"--she almost gasped--"I--it's--it's people!"

"What?"

Alex snatched the binoculars from her and looked through. It was exactly how she had said.

Guards were bringing people out of the trucks, their hands tied and their mouths gagged.

One of them struggled in the guards arm; it was a woman with dark hair and bronze skin.

She twirled and kicked at the guard as he pushed her toward the sewer.

Her gag came loose and she screamed.

She kicked up her leg and hit the guard in between the legs.

He crumpled back and she ran.

"Oh my God!--She-she, she escaped!" Alex said never letting go of the binoculars.

He heard Carter swallow, "She's not gonna make it."

"What?"

Alex paid close attention to the scene. The woman was running, no one was chasing her. But then, one of the guards--a young man about twenty-five with blonde hair and a leather jacket--that was probably the head, took out a gun and fired.

The bullet made no sound--for it had a silencer--as it hit the woman in the leg.

She fell to the ground with the shot, then, less than a second later, another shot was fired and it hit her in the head.

A shot to bring her down, another to kill.

Alex wrenched the binoculars from his face and gave them back to Carter--who received it with a shaking hand.

"They…"she whispered, mostly to herself, "they told me…they…"

She closed her eyes.

Alex trembled.

He had never been afraid of the sight of killings.

Not when Yassen Gregorovich killed that man for dropping a box of chemicals.

Not when Damian Cray flew into the jet of the plane.

Not when General Alexei Sarov shot himself in front of Alex's very eyes.

Something about this was cold, heartless…mad.

"Can you keep texting?" Carter asked in a tight voice.

He didn't respond. He couldn't move, couldn't think.

"Never mind!" Carter grabbed his phone and started texting it down herself.

"Sewer drain's an entrance in, the trucks come in at…eleven forty-five. Blonde guy with apparently a smoking habit is the head of getting…subjects into buildings…"

Alex wasn't paying attention. He couldn't.

"Rider," she said, her voice sounded distant to him, "Rider…Rider, listen! Alex!"

She smacked him on the cheek.

"Ouch! What?!"

"Look in the screen--what is that?"

Alex straightened his focus and look into the screen.

Two barely lit spots were glowing beside something large.

He looked down at the warehouses and saw that the blonde guy was staring in their direction.

He raised his gun.

"CARTER!" Alex threw himself in her direction, making them roll together.

The bullet flew past where they had been an d hit the tree with a smack. Alex breathed hard. The reflex has been so fast he hadn't noticed what he was doing.

Now, he was hovering over Carter with his wrists near her head, his breathing quick and his heart racing.

Carter--underneath him--had her hands on the ground near her head, like a form of surrender.

She looked at him--again with guilty eyes.

Alex rolled over and laid beside her.

They stayed like that for fifteen minutes.

Silence howled between them.

Death had come so close they were speechless.

In reality, Alex wanted to grab Carter and hold her in his arms. Just to know that the person he was becoming close to was safe. But he didn't move once toward that decision.

After a while, Carter spoke:

"Those dots were us, weren't they?"

Her words were plain as she spoke. It was more o a statement than a question.

"Yeah," Alex breathed.

"He…he was…he could see us, couldn't he?"

"Heck yeah, Carter."

They were silent for three more minutes.

"We should get back," Carter rolled up, her shirt crawling up her back to her bra.

Something was on her lower region near her kidney--Alex didn't pay attention to it.

"Right,"

They stayed until the Carter retrieved the camera sphere, once in her hand they began to run back.

Alex didn't feel the pain as he ran the entire three miles back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning seemed odd to the young spies.

Since they had seen that innocent woman killed they had done nothing that would allow their emotions to show.

Even when they got to the school they couldn't look at each other.

For the first time, Alex felt like he had blood on his hands.

For the first time, Alex felt guilty when he should've felt the exact opposite. He had saved Carter from death! She owed him one. Maybe, if he hadn't felt so horrible, he would've rubbed it in her face. But right now he couldn't.

When they had gone to each other's dorm they hadn't bothered to even say good night to each other. They just went straight to their dorms, never looking back once.

Alex had tried to go in quietly to not wake his roommates but instead he found them wide awake playing cards.

"Dude," Tyler had said, "you and Silver ditched us when it got good. Where'd you guys go anyway? Garrett? You okay? You look pale?"

Alex hadn't answered any of the questions that Tyler threw at him, he hadn't even listened. As soon as he had gotten in, he grabbed his pajamas and went straight to the bathroom. He got undressed and had stepped into the shower.

At first he just let the water run through his hair, down his shoulders and fall on his body. But then he slid to the floor and hugged his legs, putting his forehead against his knees. He had stayed there for an hour, not knowing if his emotions would take flight or hide themselves away in his soul.

Finally he got out, changed, and got into his bunk--avoiding Tyler's renewed questions.

Now, he sat at his usual table with his roommates, not bothering to eat the breakfast on his plate.

"Losten, what's wrong?" Tyler asked for the millionth time, "You've been acting weird all morning. Even last night. And don't you dare tell me nothing 'cause that's getting old."

Alex shrugged.

"What else can I say?"

"The truth would be nice."

He shook his head, "It's complicated."

"I can keep up,"

"It's dangerous,"

"Why the heck do you think I'm here? To pick daisies, no. I'm here cause I almost set my old school on fire and was drinking and--never mind that! It doesn't matter if it's dangerous or stupid, if you're my friend I want to know I can trust you so please tell me the truth."

"I can't, Tyler, alright. I can't."

"Losten, what's so bad? I mean first you sneak out in the middle of the night, then you and beauty ditch us, now you're telling me your freaking life is so complicated that you can't tell me, what's with you?"

Alex turned to Tyler's distraught face.

"Maybe you shouldn't get too close to someone you barely know. Not if you're gonna regret it later."

Tyler's mouth went slack then turned into an angry snarl, "I never said anything like that, but maybe you're right. Three days ago you were Garrett Losten, now…I don't really know."

He grabbed up his tray and barely a second later the bell rang. He walked out of the cafeteria upset, his moves jerky.

Alex grabbed his books and walked out as well.

As he went down the hall to his class he noticed someone following him, out of the corner of his eye.

"Hi, Garrett!" Amy squeaked. She came up beside him and started walking with him. She was like a small five-year-old toddler wanting candy.

"So you going to the ball?" she asked.

Alex didn't want Amy around, he wasn't in the mood for an intolerable presence--but he didn't really have a choice.

If he kept acting this way--blank, numb, guilty--more of the students would suspect of him.

_Crap, _he thought, _only three days and already I've got Tyler getting suspicious of me. _He sighed, _I can't let that happen again._

"What ball?" Alex straightened up, trying to pretend to be fine. Nothing's going on with me. Happy, happy!

"Oh you're new! I forgot," she giggled stupidly, "like at the end of the year Mr. and Mrs. Joust host a charity-slash-ball-slash-going-away-party thing. See it's to congratulate the 'reformed' students on doing a good job. But I mean it's just like prom."

"Oh, yeah," he decided to lie, "I never knew about it."

"Really? It's so much fun!" she made a strange chirping noise, "Oh! Thanks for walking me to class, bye!" she scurried into a room that said 'ENGLISH'.

_What? _

He _had _walked her to class, he never even noticed it--not until several of the students that went past him gaped at him like some kind of rare animal at the zoo.

When he got to his class--History--even Carter was staring at him strangely.

He sat down in his desk, opened his History book, and pretended to read it.

Two minutes later, the teacher--Mr. Tom Quill--started speaking.

"Alright class," he said, "in 1801 General…"

His words started fading as Alex started paying less attention.

He put his elbow on the desk and rested his chin on his fist.

"Psst!"

Alex looked beside him. Carter flicked a square of folded paper onto his desk.

It landed right in the middle.

He opened the note slowly as to not catch Mr. Quill's attention.

_You walked Amy Stupid to class?!_

_Cr._

Alex shook his head and started writing back.

_No! I was just talking to her and I didn't notice where we were going_.

He tossed it back and less than ten seconds later the note was in front of him again.

_Sure didn't look like that from my point of view. In fact didn't look like that from ANYONE'S point of view. Plus, she said it loud enough to give her audience the wrong picture! _

_Quote from Casino Royale 007: "Try not to get too emotionally attached._

He smiled.

Ha-ha. Fun-ne.

_Look I don't think we'll have to worry about. Well I don't anyway...=)_

She rolled her eyes and sighed.

_Alex, it's not that it's just, well, Tyler. He's getting in this too far. I think he suspects something. _

Writing down quickly and pretending to pick up his pencil, Alex passed the note again.

_He is. _

_He already said that he doesn't think that I'm who I say I am, or at least that I'm not telling the truth about some stuff._

Carter grunted quietly.

_Well that's four steps backwards. Just GET RID of anything that might make him suspicious or inflict on the mission!_

_Already did!_

He passed the last note and pretended to listen to Mr. Quill.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Carter kept tapping her foot rhythmically.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

She had been doing that for the past ten minutes during their wait for his roommates. Alex knew Tyler probably wouldn't come but that didn't count his Ed and Jay.

"Silver, stop!"

He was starting to get a major headache and her constant noise didn't help with it.

She didn't.

"Silver!"

"Garrett, shut up!" she snapped back.

Maybe the tapping wasn't just for waiting, it seemed that she was expecting something else to happen. She seemed a little nervous, maybe even a little paranoid.

She grabbed the bottle of pills from her pocket and popped them in her mouth--this time it was four of them, not two.

"You know what," she got up, "I have to do something so I won't be here to annoy."

She spun around so quickly Alex thought she'd fall.

"Bye!" Alex called, irritatingly.

Carter put her hand behind her back and flipped him off.

Alex rolled his eyes. He was getting tired of that little--

"Hey, Garrett,"

Ed and Jay came to the table, sliding down their trays and slumping into their seats.

"Man you totally missed it last night! It was awesome!" Ed got his phone out, "Your girlfriend gave us back the camera and we got the video--"

"She's not my girlfriend,"

"Sure, sure, anyway it's gonna be showing on the school's TVs'--" there were two televisions in the cafeteria, one on each wall--"in three…two…one!"

The screen popped to life and soon the entire scene of the Late Years was playing over again--this time for the entire school to see.

The cafeteria was filled with laughter and high pitched laughs that sounded like glass and the renewed screams of Amy and her clan as they saw their horrified moment replayed. It was edited with zoom and coloring, repeats and slow motion, making it funnier than what it was.

Amy ran out of the cafeteria crying.

"Guys, maybe we went too far," he whispered to them.

But then each and every one of the teachers were running around frantically in a frenzy to turn off the televisions. They were acting like chickens with their heads cut off.

"Maybe not," Alex laughed his words out as Mrs. Joust ran into a student with soup and poured it all on herself.

"Turn it off!" she was screaming frantically, "Get it off! Now!"

Though her bellows were loud no one paid attention, they were all laughing too hard and loud.

Alex looked around for Carter, surely she of all people was enjoying this.

He didn't see her anywhere so he looked ahead past the open doors.

_There she is, _he thought. But then he saw she was talking to someone. He couldn't see the person, only their hands and arms, the door was blocking the rest of them. By the size of their hands Alex assumed it was a man.

Carter was talking to him, or rather arguing. Her face was twisted in anger. Then her stance changed.

She put her legs apart--looking as if she were trying to balance--pointed her finger at him, and was yelling angrily.

Alex couldn't hear what she was saying, only caught two words from reading her lips, "…hurt him!"

Suddenly, the man's hands flew toward her, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him. His other hand grasped at her hair and soon she disappeared behind the door.

There was a loud BANG against metal as she disappeared.

"Carter!" he yelled.

No one heard him. He couldn't even hear _himself. _It was too loud.

Then , the power switched off and everyone began screaming.

"SIT DOWN!" a loud voice said, possibly over a bull-horn.

Silence screamed.

The lights came back on and for the first time ever Alex saw the headmaster.

Charlie Joust was at the least 6' 5"; he had dark, short-cropped, hair and a bulky body figure; his gray-green eyes were looking from side to side as he walked down the rows of tables.

When he got to the other side of the cafeteria he spun around like a soldier and with a quiet, yet commanding, voice said, "Who here…" he made his voice slow and menacing and somehow painful, "is responsible for this event?"

No one moved, no one _breathed. _

Jay and Ed didn't show any emotion.

"No one?" Mr. Joust put a hand on one of the students shoulders and the boy looked like he was about to faint, "Hmm. I could've sworn this was conspired by a student."

His voice was judging.

For a moment Ed and Jay looked taken back, but then as the headmaster passed they and looked around like the other students--faking to search for the one to blame.

Alex straightened as Joust passed, then turned to tell Jay something but stopped when he saw Carter sitting beside Ed.

She was just sitting there as if she had never left.

_What?!_ He thought as he looked at the doors.

A pair of blue eyes staring back at him through the small window of the doors. The eyes gave a final glance and then they were gone.

The eyes gave a final glance then they were gone.

"No one?" Joust was still trying to find them, "Hmm…"

He walked toward Mrs. Joust, whispered something in her ear, and left--the soup was going down her little PRADA shirt.

_strange…_

As he went through the doors the door the room seemed to breathe again.

Jay and Ed high-fived quickly and got up to grab their lunch.

Carter got up with them before Alex could ask her anything--but that didn't stop him.

"What was that about?" he asked once they were in line.

"What was what about?" she answered with a question.

"Are you gonna tell me who that man was?"

"What man?"

"Carter, don't toy with me, you know exactly what--" he caught himself off mid sentence as he saw something.

A deep red liquid was coming down Carter's arm, it clung one the end of her palm.

"Carter, you're bleeding." he said, grabbing a napkin.

Carter grabbed her arm quickly, " 'S nothing."

"Here," he handed her the napkins and she took it quickly.

She wiped off the blood on her hand then stuffed the paper in her pocket.

"Silver," he said his words gentle, "what happened?! What or who did this to you?"

"G, it's a scratch, quit freaking. Nothing happened. I slid against a locker and I guess it cut me. 'S fine."

She let go of her arm and began gathering her lunch on an orange tray.

Alex did the same but stared at her arm the entire time.

A small red part was beginning to seep through her sweater from where the blood was beginning to come through.

He also noticed her actions.

Her hands were shaking as she grabbed her thing, her eyes were blinking several times, and her legs were also shaking.

Clatter!

Alex barely caught her as she fell backwards and dropped her lunch.

"Silver!"

She was nestled in his arms now, her face curled near his chest, her arms dangling limply.

"Silver,"

He was on his knees on the floor. Had he been a second later she would've fell to hit it.

He tried to wake her by shaking her, but her eyes wouldn't open.

"What happened?!"

The cafeteria lady, employees and some students--including Jay and Ed--came running to them.

"What happened?!" an employee--a woman with dark hair and green eyes--repeated.

"I don't know. We were talking and she fell. I guess she blacked out or something."

"We need to get her to the nurse's office." another employee, a brown-haired man, said to the woman, "If this happened because of some food she ate--"

"You're right. Come one, let's take her."

The employees began to take her from Alex's arms but he clutched on tighter and said, "I can take her."

The employees looked at each other.

"Well," the woman said, "maybe-maybe it would be fine. Yeah, go ahead, just say she fainted."

Alex nodded.

He got up and began walking toward the cafeteria doors.

Carter was light to his surprise.

He could've carried her for hours.

Suddenly Tyler came out of the guys' restroom and saw them.

"What the--? What happened?!" he walked by Alex.

"She fainted," Alex said tightly, he hadn't forgotten the argument they had had in the morning.

"Fainted? Where? In the lunchroom?"

Carter began to mumble; they stopped in their tracks.

"Silver?" Alex put what he could of his hand on her face.

"Put…me down…Alex…" her words were faint and weak, but Tyler heard what he could of it.

" 'Alex'?" Tyler looked at her then at him, "Why'd she call you that? Is that your name? Garrett, what--?"

Alex kept walking before Tyler could say or hear anything else.

As he walked, Carter's hair went to a side and he saw a darkening mark on her neck. He matched the mark as a bruise and the shape was that of a handprint. It was around her neck like a necklace, someone had choked her and it was just now showing.

What was going on?

Who was that man that she had talked to? What happened that was so bad she came back to the cafeteria bleeding and apparently choked?

"Put…me…"

"Carter, hush," he said, "we're almost to the office, I'll put you down there."

"My pills…"

She opened her eyes to look at him.

They were drowsy and unfocused, she kept blinking and couldn't keep them open. But in the few seconds that she did he saw something in them that hurt him.

Guilt, pain…remorse.

"Not now, Carter. Take 'em after this."

"No…please…"

Alex kicked the door lightly to knock and a young woman with blonde curls and blue eyes opened it.

"Oh, my!" she explained as she saw Carter, "Get her in here, quick!"

Alex stepped into the nurse's office--it was simple. Two filing cabinets in a corner, a sink with a counter and four cabinets over it in another, an examine table in the far wall and another door to the back.

There was one chair and a stool.

Alex laid her on the table and Carter lay limp on it, her head turned to a side.

"She fainted in the cafeteria," he said.

"How long ago?"

"Um, maybe three or four minutes ago, I don't know."

"Oh, my," the woman, Mrs. Keenan was feeling her forehead.

Carter was beginning to sweat, her breathing was shallow and her hands were starting to shake.

Mrs. Keenan felt Carter's waist, when she brought up her hand it was covered in sweat.

"Do you know if she's on any medications?"

"I-I don't, I don't know. I only met her a few days ago."

"It's okay, honey, I just need to know what's causing her body to react this way."

She took off Carter's sweater and Alex almost gasped as he saw the cut.

It went from her shoulder to her forearm in a long straight line.

"How did she get this?!"

"Maybe she hit something as she fell?"

"Maybe, but it's too straight,"

Mrs. Keenan went to the cabinet and pulled out three rags, dampening two of them with cold water and one with hot.

"Press this against the cut, it's pretty large. Just put pressure on it."

Alex did that.

She got out more rags and dampened them with cold water.

She put one across Carter's forehead, two on her long legs, she unbuttoned her shirt and placed one across her stomach.

"her fever seems to be pretty high," she said, mainly to herself, "oh! What is causing this? I've never seen anything like it."

Alex kept holding the rag and got close to Carter.

He moved the hair out of her face and sighed.

What was this?

Then it dawned on him.

_The pills!_

This was why Carter had wanted them. To avoid this. To avoid her blacking out and causing an incident.

Wait a minute--what?

Was _this _what happened?

A fever so high he could barely touch her? Her entire body shaking and sweating? Her breathing shallow and wheezy? Her fainting all of the sudden?

What _were_ these pills?

"Does this make you uncomfortable?" Mrs. Keenan asked.

"What?"

"Her shirt? Open? Are--"

"No! No, it's fine."

"Okay, well I need to go grab a thermometer refill at the other office so I'll be right back. Will you be okay by yourself? Okay, great."

She nodded and left.

Alex grabbed another rag and drenched it with cold, cold water, replacing the one on her forehead with it.

The old rag was really warm.

Quickly, he put his ear to her chest and heard her heart pounding away. It seemed as if it was going to burst out of her.

Alex turned, leaned on the table, and put a hand on his neck.

Why was this happening?

Not a week had passed and already there had been an incident. How were the two to stand three-and-a-half more weeks?

"Mmm.."

Alex turned to see Carter open her eyes.

The sweating had stopped thank God.

"Hey," he said quietly.

Carter turned her head slowly and looked at him with her pain-filled forbidden eyes.

"My…my pills."

Alex sucked his lips then sighed.

He grabbed her cardigan and dug in the pockets. He pulled out the bottle, pulled off the cap and dropped two tablets into his palm.

He grabbed a plastic cup by the sink and filled it with water.

"Here," he helped her raise up then handed her the pills.

She threw them in her mouth and drank the water hastily.

She scrunched the cup in her hand and threw it toward the wall, laying down once again.

"Thanks," she whispered, laying her arm across her face.

Alex shook his head and sat down.

Carter then got up slowly and sat up, twisting around and hanging her long tan legs over the side of the table.

She moved the rags and began buttoning her shirt back up.

They sat in silence for a moment until she started kicking the table with her heels.

"Cassandra!" Alec almost yelled, he was angry, "What the heck is going on! I have a right to know!"

"Alex--"

"Don't you dare tell me that it's none of my business or you'll explain later because I swear on my parents' grave that I will call MI6 and the CIA and end this mission right here and now!"

His face was red, he was on his feet now--he balled his hands into fists.

Carter put her lips in a straight line and hopped off the table, getting up to his face and snapping, "Guinea pig,"

She snatched her sweater and stormed out of the office.

Alex stood blank.

_Guinea pig? _That's what she had said--right?

He opened the door to go after her when Mrs. Keenan was about to come in.

"Oh, Mr. Losten," she said, "Where're you going to? Where is Miss Massey?"

"She woke up and left. I have to…"

He squeezed past her and went down the hall.

Carter was still walking down it so he ran and caught up with her.

"You didn't explain anything to me!" he yelled.

"I said enough!" she argued back.

"Carter, I mean it!"

"You know what!" she turned on him, "I don't need to tell you anything you mother--"

He slammed her against the lockers at their side.

"If we're gonna handle each other for an entire month I say we start with no secrets."

She laughed out, "That little so-called girlfriend of yours, Sabina, whatever she may have been but I'm not your do to push around!"

She kicked him in the abs and shoved him off.

Then she kicked him on his side and punched him in the gut.

Alex ignored the pain and grabbed her hands, holding them above her head, and slammed her against the wall.

Their fight had moved them down the hall and into another hallway--a darker more secluded one.

Carter lunged her leg at him but Alex held her hands with one of his own and with his other grabbed her thrashing leg, hitching it on his hip.

Carter panted angrily. If she tried to kick him with her other leg she would fall and give him an even greater advantage.

She tried to move her leg from his hip but couldn't as he grasped her by the knee and pulled her closer to him.

"Spill, Carter," he said.

She stared at him with her forbidden eyes as they were once called by the CIA trainers.

"Make me," she said darkly.

Alex pulled her closer than ever this time.

Their faces barely an inch apart, their bodies already pressing together.

"Say it, Carter," he said, "out loud, say it."

She pursed her lips at first but then said, "No reason to hold back now, huh?"

She wiggled a little.

Alex didn't let go of her. He stared into her eyes--they were like deep gray pools that held so much.

Guilt, innocence, remorse, happiness, bondage, freedom, everything.

"CIA," she started, "are testing an experiment and they needed a guinea pig, a _human _guinea pig."

_What?! _"They're experimenting on you?"

"I volunteered,"

"Carter, it could kill you! You've already become addicted to them like a drugatic to heroine and when you didn't take them you--well you know what happened!"

She scoffed, "Just a little,"

"And-and…" he looked down at her arm.

The scar from earlier wasn't there. It was gone! In it's place a small straight-line bruise!

"What is the CIA testing?" he asked, staring at the bruise.

Carter swallowed, "Damage prevention for the human body."

Alex stared at her again, then broke the glance. He let go of her leg and let it down slowly, then he released her hands.

He turned around and walked to the other side of the hallway.

Putting his hand on his neck and hip he said, "Seems to be working,"

She shrugged, "Not perfectly. It only heals the wounds on the outside. Everything inside heals normally."

He bobbed his head.

"How come you got sick then? Shouldn't your little mice-intended-experiment have worked on that?"

"No. That was because I didn't take them when I should've."

"What would've happened if you hadn't taken them when you asked for it in the office."

She looked at him and sucked her lower lip.

"You would've died…right?" he said for her, "It would've finished you off."

"Like I said it's no perfect--but they're close to getting it there!"

"But in the mean time they're gonna use you as an animal to test it?!" he yelled this time, "What if something else like this happens and I'm not around?! What'll you do then?"

"That's why we need to be on our toes, Rider. So that the mission--"

"To heck with the mission!"

Carter's jaw dropped.

"CIA, MI6 or whatever other agency there is doesn't care about us! They don't care if we live or die as long as we get them their stupid mission."

"Yeah, you don't think I know that? I've been working for them since I was twelve! I get it! I just want this month to go by fast so that I can go home to my aunt and just have a normal life for a few weeks or months. I hate this! Every mission gets me confused! Especially this one! My-my head, my emotions, my--everything!

"You're not the only one going through the fire, Rider. This is what they do. They use and use and don't give a damn at who it is. We just have to learn to live with it! If we get their missions done they're happy and don't contact us for a while. So-so let's try to ignore this. Please. Let's ignore the fact that they don't care or that they are using us, let's just get it over with and forget it. Because if you won't I will."

She looked at him again, then walked off down the hall and out of the building.

Alex stayed in the hallway.

This was what he was doing. Being used and not cared if his parts worked or not.

So was Carter.

They both were.

Already they both felt as if there was blood on their hands, they felt that they were being manipulated by everything and nothing, they knew they were.

He shook his head and went back down the hall, turning a few times and returning to the cafeteria.

When he sat down, Jay, Ed, and Tyler were almost done with their food.

"Hey what happened, man?" Jay asked first, "Silver just like passed out and then you were being superman and carrying her to safety or whatever."

He laughed.

"Yeah, she fainted and I was carrying her to the nurses office. She doesn't know exactly what though. So she went back up to her room. I don't know if she's gonna come back for the rest of the classes or not."

"Probably, not." Ed said, "It's a good excuse to use to skip, why not use it?"

He grabbed a sandwich off his plate and handed it to Alex on a napkin, "When you ran out with her I grabbed it in case you came back."

"Oh, thanks, man." he said, taking a bite out of it.

"So," Tyler said, "you asked her yet?"

Were they talking again? Alex's guess was yes.

"Asked who what?"

"Silver. Have you asked her to dance?"

Alex smiled, "No, why? You wanna?"

"No, man, I just thought--you know since you guys seem close and all."

"Define close."

"Dan from that table"--he pointed at a dark haired guy probably fifteen or sixteen that was seating on the other side of the cafeteria--"said he saw you guys pretty close right now."

Alex almost choked on his food, "What'd you mean?"

"Well," Ed came in again, "he pretty much said she had her leg practically twisted around you and that you were as close to her as an iron could be to a piece of clothing. Oh and that she had her arms up sky high so that she was like full frontal mode."

The guys started laughing at his dirty joke.

"Oh, yeah just now, heh, yeah. No, um, we were just talking."

"Sure you were," Jay teased.

Alex smiled and punched him on the arm.

"Dan said he couldn't make out what you were saying but that you were pretty close to _making _out."

"Yeah, it was pretty close." Alex started thinking.

They _had _been close. _Really _close.

"But I don't know yet." he said, relieving his thoughts.

"Well if you are you better be quick, all of the guys are trying to get her or Amy Diputs to be their date."

"Amy Diputs? Why would they even compare Silver to her?"

"Uh, 'cause she's a major hottie." Jay retorted, "You didn't think the guys wouldn't notice?"

"Well, yeah I did but not, not quite this much."

"Well, you better get the tickets early cause the movie's gonna be sold out by the time you decide."

"What?"

"If you don't ask her out soon someone else will."


	10. Secrets of a Dark Past

Hey guys so sorry I haven't been able to update too much. School's keeping me pretty busy, I'm trying to stay a year ahead and be freshman by the end of this year. Well I hope you guys enjoy this. The story's getting close to the end so I hope it can keep you till the end =)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the last fight Carter and Alex had--telling each other off through out it and coming so close together in skin contact that it gave the wrong impression to Dan Welshmen--they hadn't talked much or seen each other a lot, and it had been going on for two weeks!

At breakfast they sat by each other again, but only to move when his roommates started teasing them and taunting them, but even then they didn't really talk.

Alex gazed at her a few times to try to guess what she was thinking but only got a few remorse-filled looks back from her deep gray eyes.

At lunch they tried to act like before but found it slightly impossible and one time at dinner when they were forced to wedge beside each other to eat it got worse.

Alex smiled as he remembered.

Something had happened to one of the long dining tables--rumor was that a couple of students got into a fight one night and broke it in half--and had caused to cram sixteen more students in an already full sixteen-seat table and caused Carter and him to sit next to each other.

They had been so close it wasn't funny. When he had gone to put his hand on his knee he ended up putting it on her bare leg. Carter had turned to look at him confusingly then slid his hand off and continued to talk to the girl in front of her--Dawnsey Caine.

Dawnsey Caine was sixteen, she had dirty blonde curls and big hazel eyes, her lips were small and pink and her cheeks were blushed soft rose. She was 5' 6" with long legs and a slim sculpted waist. She looked like a model that had stepped out from the Tyra Banks Show.

"I need some girls to talk to," Carter had said, "hanging with you, Jay, Ed, and Ty all the time is gonna brainwash me."

So she had met Dawnsey and had become friends with her.

Now there six in their group of friends. Tyler--whose wandering eyes went from Carter to Dawnsey--Jay, Ed, Dawnsey, Carter and himself. Finally, he was feeling welcome.

The charity ball was coming quickly, the whole school was bustling about it. Signs were going up about it, students were gossiping about it and what would happen after, girls were freaking out about it, guys were nervous about it.

That Saturday--tomorrow--the school was going to head into the small town Jour and get prepared for it.

"What kind of dress are you looking for exactly?" Dawnsey asked Carter.

They were all sitting at lunch and were talking about it.

Friday had come and so had the feeling of freedom--at least as far as it was able to go.

"I don't know, maybe a red one?" Carter sounded confused, "I was thinking of like a short tight one or maybe even a long one. I don't know. What about you?"

"I saw this dark blue one that I really like, it goes to the floor and has like this silver lining on the neck and an open back with criss-cross straps."

"Sounds cute."

"So," Tyler ate his food slowly, asking Alex, "asked anyone to go with you?"

Alex shook his head, "No, I haven't. I don't think I will."

"Why not? Dude, there are plenty of hot chicks here and they're waiting for you to ask 'em."

"Like who,"

"Amy Stupid's one of 'em," Dawnsey said, "I mean she only stares at you like a diamond that she's gonna whine her daddy for."

"Or a wad of cash that she's gonna flaunt," Carter said, mostly to herself.

"See, man," Tyler came back into his original conversation, "just ask her and get it over with."

"Yeah, and if she says no"--Dawnsey put her hands on Carter's shoulder--"you'll always have Silver."

"What?" Carter laughed, "Uh, excuse me but I am nobody's booty call."

"Of course not, just Garrett's."

The others started laughing.

Alex felt the blood rushing to his face and his ears start to heat up, he put his head down and tried to eat.

"Well," Carter got up with her tray, "you guys just mouthing cause you can't get yo' own dates,"

"Whatever," Tyler said, "I bet fifty bucks that I'll get a date before you."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah,"

"Prove it," she smiled as she spoke.

"I will."

"Get a date by Thursday or pay up. Come on, Tyler, bring it!"

They all started laughing.

Carter threw away her plate and put the tray on the holder over the trash can, then she came back and sat in Dawnsey's lap.

"So you gonna ask her, G?" she asked.

"Who? Amy?"

"Yeah,"

"I don't think so,"

"Why not?" Ed asked.

"Cause, well, when I'm around her and I just hear her talk she gets annoying."

"I know that feeling. I can't believe I haven't done something to her already. Sharing a room with the Late Years is so not my choice of torture. I would rather have a bullet through my hand to it."

"Oh come on, I don't think they're that bad," Dawnsey said.

"Heck yeah!" they all said in unison.

"Okay fine then, sorry I tried to see the good in people."

"Okay so how're we doing this?" Carter asked them.

"Doing what?" Jay replied.

"I mean we all don't have dates, so how're you guys gonna do your tuxes?"

"All white," Jay said.

"Gray and black," Ed said after him.

"Blue and black," Tyler chunked a piece of bread into his mouth.

"What about you?" Dawnsey asked Alex.

He looked at Carter and smiled, "All black,"

"Ooh, he's going all James Bond," she teased.

Carter popped her neck and smiled.

"You?" he asked.

Carter and Dawnsey looked at each other, "Don't know," they said.

"Really depends on the guy I'm going with," Dawnsey said.

"Yeah, that has a big thing to do with it." Carter interjected.

"It's just dancing," Jay said.

"It's the celebration of getting out of this hellhole." Dawnsey grabbed her water and drank some of it.

"Hear, hear to that!" Carter high fived her.

The bell rang.

"Ugh," Carter grunted, "crap-school's in session again."

Alex got up with his tray.

He tossed the left over food in the trash.

As they headed out of the cafeteria, Carter came to his side and grabbed his arm.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Yes? What did I do?" he teased.

"Shut up, nothing. No, listen, I was thinking…"

Alex was picturing what she was going to say: I was thinking maybe…you could go with me--I mean since we're being teased so much we might as well.

But that wasn't what he heard.

"We haven't scouted the warehouses in a while, we should probably go do that sometime."

He looked down.

"Yeah," he said, "we should…do that…"

Carter let go of his arm, "A'ight, what's the matter?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Dude, you're acting weird. Like yesterday, you were holding on to the table so hard I thought it was gonna break."

"What're you talking about?"

"You grabbed the edge when I--" she cut herself off.

Alex remembered. Carter had sat across from him in biology and as they were listening she had put her foot on his leg. Her shoe was off so she had curled her toes just as she went to the inside of his thigh. At first he had barely moved, gradually growing stiff, but then she went so _up north _that she surprised him and he jumped, grabbing the table.

"I wasn't expecting it 's all." he said, flipping his history book in his hands.

"That's all?"

"That's _all._"

She nodded.

She reached for something in her pocket but then looked at him and just kept her hand inside it. Alex groaned when he saw the movement.

"You're still taking them, aren't you?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"Carter, how can still be popping them after what happened week before last?"

"What did happen week before last?" she teased, pressing herself against him and putting her arms around his neck, Ever since then she had always somehow _touched _him, making all of the students stare at them--she loved seeing their reaction.

"Silver," he pushed down her arms gently, not really wanting to move them but knowing they didn't need to draw the attention, "stop. How is it even in your mind?"

"It's like you said, I'm addicted."

"Obviously,"

"You know what--this is something you have no business or knowledge in, you don't know how any of this affects me, how much pain I go through because of it--you don't know! If I don't take them then the pain is tripled, the suffering tripled, everything _tripled_!

"So unless you know that feeling, stay out of it!"

"No, Silver, listen, I know it hurts but you have to stop. It's gonna--"

"It's none of your business!"

"Silver--"

"Just shut up, Garrett--"

"I won't because--"

"Hey, Garrett!"

_CRAP IT! _Alex yelled in his mind, _Why now? Of all times, why now!? _

Amy Diputs was standing close to him, twirling a blonde curl with a finger. She looked like the bright blinding light that no one wanted around as they slept.

"Hey, Amy," Alex said in monotone.

Carter crossed her arms and cocked her head--the movement still got on Alex's nerves but less now. She was chewing a piece of gum so when Amy came up she blew a huge bubble and popped it in her face.

Amy scoffed at her, rolling her big blue eyes.

"Oh, Silver," Amy said in a smart-aleck, "you left some weird gunk in the room--oh, I mean your luggage." she put a hand on her hip and tossed her hair.

"Amy--" Alex didn't want this to start, it would never end! But even he couldn't stop it.

"Well," Carter cocked her head the opposite way, "I think some trash is staying in my room, it's your face."

Amy let out the most pathetic gasp Alex had ever heard.

"Oh, well it's ten times better than your face."

"Have you looked in a mirror? No probably not because they usually break whenever an evil, pathetic bit--"

"Silver, let it go."

"You know what--" Amy twirled her hair again, "I didn't even come here to talk to you."

Amy grabbed Alex by the arm as Carter did and whispered to him, "I need to ask you something,"

She pulled him and made Carter back off. Carter bit the inside of her cheek as Amy dragged Alex off, and as she did Alex looked back with pleading eyes.

Carter gave a final look to them, then walked the opposite direction away from them, shaking her head the entire time.

Amy took him down the hall and into a corridor where only a few students were.

"What'd you need to ask me?" he asked, desperate to return to his friends.

She turned him around and cornered him into the lockers, she grabbed his tie and entwined it around her pink-nailed, pale hands.

"You know," she made her voice smooth and airy, "I don't usually do the asking, 's not my thing, but I totally couldn't resist."

Somehow in a manner of a second she had pressed herself against him and had moved her hands around his neck.

"What're you-what're you talking about?" he could barely find his voice as Amy transformed, in his arms, into the temptress every guy wanted.

"Ball's in two weeks, I got my dress and have well rejected every guy that's asked me to go with them." she put her face closer to his, "Come on, Garrett, we're both flying, both dancing alone…but I really,…really, want you to tango with me."

She moved his hand from his side and put it on her waist.

"What'd you say?" she put her lips so close to his they brushed them, "Will you go to the ball with me?"

Standing right there, with Amy pressed against him and the students passing by staring at him, he knew that this moment was bound to happen sooner or later. He had known it ever since he had seen her from his dorm window and she flashed a smile and a wink at him, ever since she had passed him and rubbed his cheek with the tip of her finger for less than a second, and especially ever since Carter became more aggravated with her and began to be a little green-eyed.

This was the moment almost every male student in the school dreamed about--everyone but him. He didn't want to go with her, not with anyone else besides one girl and if he couldn't have her he didn't want another date. But the few students that saw them were staring, if he refused the opportunity to go with the hottest girl in the school they would suspect something of him and look into him.

Amy began rubbing his cheek with her fingertips and pushed away some of his dyed black hair from his face.

He knew he could walk away from her and be known as the English-Bad-Boy that let Amy Diputs slip through his fingers, or he could be like Alice and fall through the hole into deranged-put-up-with-Amy-and-not-have-his-only-wish-wonderland.

"So what'd you say?" she finally kissed him. Alex could taste the cherry on her lip gloss and it felt so wrong. He felt no little flame, no spark, no passion, nothing!

She pulled back.

"So?"…

…he fell.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What was so hard at saying no!" Carter almost yelled her words.

"Wait," Ty said, "so she asked _you_?"

"Yeah, she did." Alex really regretted it now.

School was out and him and his friends were sitting at the fountain in square two, talking about what happened.

"but I mean, I told her it was just a one time thing. It doesn't mean we're boyfriend and girlfriend or anything."

"What'd she say to that?" jay asked.

"She was cool with it."

"Of course she was," Dawnsey, who was walking on the ring around the fountain, interjected, "as long as you're her newest accessory besides her 5 grand dress she's good to go."

"Couldn't you have just said no?" Carter repeated.

" 'No'?" Tyler said, "Silver, saying no to Amy Diputs is like-like going to a candy shop opening and not getting most of the food even though you're about to explode."

"You're explanation is like her last name spelled backwards--stupid."

"Yeah, yeah, but you get the point."

"Wish I didn't."

"Well," Jay put his leg on the fountain, "at least one of us has a date."

"Nope," Dawnsey said, "I got one too."

"Who?" Carter and Tyler said at the same time. Carter was glad at the change of subject, Tyler was only wanting to know for his own specific reasons.

"Chase Smith."

Carter smiled, "Hottie-Chase-Smith?"

"Yep! He asked me today."

"When?"

"Right after English Lit."

"Oh my God, wasn't one of the Placci twins wanting to go with him?"

"Mmm-hmm. Mel. But she ain't--I am! Heeey!"

The girls laughed.

"I'm guessing you're still, uh, _solo_." Carter teased Tyler.

"You're one to talk," he retorted, "you don't have one either."

"But I'm closer to getting one than you are, oh!"

Jay shoved him on the shoulder, "She's right, bro," he said.

Tyler pushed him back and accidentally made him fall into the fountain, but not before Jay grabbed him and pulled him with him. They splashed the water to where it hit them all, soaking Alex and Ed's back and Carter and Dawnsey's side.

"Oh my gosh!" Carter laughed, "you idiots!"

Alex laughed, some of his hair had gotten wet so he pulled it back.

"Dude, help us up," Jay groaned.

Alex and Carter extended their hands to them. Jay grabbed Alex with a slick grip and pulled him forward, flipping him into the fountain. Tyler did the same thing to Carter and she screamed at the surprise. She landed on top of Alex, but didn't stay long, she lifted herself with her legs and changed her expression. "You guys, we're gonna get in trouble." she said.

Alex looked at Ed and Dawnsey--who were barely wet--and saw the horror struck look on their faces.

"Too late," Dawnsey said, she and Ed grabbing their books, "Every man for themselves," she had a guilty look on her face.

They ran off and blended in with the crowd.

"What?" Alex began to get up when a large hand grabbed him and Tyler by the shoulder and jerked them around. They turned to face Charlie Joust.

"…Mr. Joust." Tyler's words were barely a whisper.

"Kingston," Joust said, "Losten,"

"Sir," Alex breathed. He had never really been afraid of people, he had always found the upper hand and just confronted them but Joust was somehow very compelling to be frightening.

"Care to tell me why you've decided to…_play _in our fountain?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw that Jay was gone and so was Carter.

"Hmm…" Joust kept a hold of them and said, "Miss Massey, you will do well to show yourself."

For a moment, Joust seemed to talk to himself, there was nobody in the fountain.

"Miss Massey,"

Alex began to tell him she wasn't there when all of the sudden Carter stepped out from behind the statue--her arms crossed and her head cocked.

"Now then," Joust pinched his thumbs into Ty's and Alex's shoulders, "Why were you in the fountain?"

"We," Tyler tried to speak through his pain, he and Alex were slowly going downward, "we were just playing around and fell in."

"Really?"

"Yes," Alex said shaking, "nothing else."

"Oh, really?"

Joust grabbed their arms and knocked them back into the water, slamming them into Carter and making her fall backwards.

Alex spewed out the water that found its way in his mouth and rubbed his shoulder, squinting his eyes at his new bruise.

Joust looked at them and said, "Three days detention starting Monday."

He walked off and when he was out of ear reach, Carter spit out the dirtiest word she knew at him.

"Idiot," she mumbled, "You all right?" she asked Alex.

"Yeah…doesn't hurt that bad." he rubbed it gently.

"Well, let's go."

She helped him and Tyler up.

They began walking back toward their dorms, books in hand. Tyler was grumbling about his shoulder repeatedly and was beginning to irritate Alex.

Students were staring at them as they walked out of the square and into the outer part of the school, leaving a trail of water behind them.

"Silver," Alex whispered.

She looked at him, her gray eyes sparkling with something like guilt, but where did it come from? The past? The future?…The present?

"Yeah," she smiled. They found it strange to call each other by these names, pretending to be someone they weren't.

But Alex knew what he was about to do was stranger than anything they'd gone through.

"Can-can I ask you something?"

Her smile turned timid, "Sure,"

"Can I do…one thing…please?"

"Don't get too physical now." she teased.

He smiled. He walked closer to her and slowly lifted his arm, draping it across her shoulders.

"Am I allowed _this _physical?" he asked with a smile.

At first Carter just kept walking and didn't look at him, but then she slowly put her arm around his waist and put her head near his shoulder.

"Yeah, You're allowed that." her voice didn't sound like a tease, it sounded secure as if breathing a breath of "At last".

Many of the students froze to stare at them. Losten and Massey? Weren't they always fighting? Always arguing? Didn't they _not _like each other? They couldn't tolerate each other! But now they were _holding _each other? They looked like-like _a couple. _

"Everyone's staring," Alex whispered.

"Imagine what would happen if we locked lips," Carter said. An awkward moment occurred right then and Alex couldn't have been happier to have Tyler beside them.

"Dude," Tyler said, running to their side, "in case you haven't noticed you have the entire high school gawking at you."

"We know," they said.

"So are you guys like?…"

"No," Carter said.

"It's just a trick on the students." Alex said.

Tyler shrugged.

_It's just a trick_. The words rang in Alex's ears. He knew this moment wouldn't last and would probably never happen again, so he made his hold stronger, warmer, safer.

Carter did the same but, slowly, her hand began to tremble. Had he done something wrong? To frighten her?

"Hey," he said softly.

She looked up at him and he saw the pain and guilt in her eyes again.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered, "Just…not used to having someone actually want me around is all."

"What'd you mean?"

Carter looked down and gave an anxious laugh, "Well"--her trembling increased a little--"I…I wasn't exactly able to have a _choice _to join…"

She paused.

Tyler was waving at someone, he turned to them and said, "Hey I'll catch you later--by the way you might want to stop that, fin's pretty much over I think they're taking it the wrong way." he ran off and out of the square.

Alex--unwillingly--slid his arm off Carter and she did the same.

"Carry on," he told her.

She nodded, "I didn't have a choice, you know, no options. And I still don't."

"I thought you said 'yes' to the mission."

"No, I'm not like you. CIA is a little tighter. They told me, I left. I'm sort of like a dog in a shock collar--do it, or they'll hurt you."

"Then how did you get into this?" Alex knew her story was probably nothing like his; he had been trained his entire life by Ian Rider and, even though he didn't know he was being trained, he had an option about the missions.

Carter crossed her arms, her books close to her chest, "My mom was really young when she had me, too young. By the time I was three she couldn't really take care of me anymore so…she put me up for adoption.

"I never had any friends at the orphan center, I mostly kept to myself…still do. No one could really understand me, even though we all had pretty much the same story I felt different…I was seen different. I was always getting into trouble so pretty soon people were calling me 'Punk', I don't know why but they liked it. They called me a lot of stuff, 'Punk', 'Tramp', they even called me 'Cassie No-Name' because when I was dropped off my mother didn't leave a name or anything so they called me Cassandra and since I didn't have a last name that was what they called me. But 'Punk' was always the favorite. I got into a lot of trouble for sneaking out and stealing things.

"Like one time, I remember, I was so desperate to get out of county house that I broke through the window bars and tried to jack a car. I was so close, I could hear the lock just waiting to be sprung. But the police and came and caught me before I could open the door…heh, but that's what got me in the CIA.

"I dead-beat the cops pretty bad, took their weapons and hopped in their car. They're always warning people, 'never leave the keys in your car 'cause someone can take it' but they never do it themselves.

"I was out on the highway, about an hour away from the County House, when this black Escalade rammed into my side. It scared me so bad."--her eyes were staring at the ground blankly, she remember the time so well that she seemed to just be reading it off a script--"At first I just swerved to the other lane and floored it but then it rear-ended me and made me hit my head on the windshield. It sped up and rammed me one final time in the side and it made hit the rail guard so hard it broke and I went racing down a cliff. Everything was so fast then. One moment I saw the end of the cliff, the next I was flying out of the car and onto a rough ground. I looked up and saw the Escalade coming back. It stopped near me and a man got out…Before I could say anything I blacked out.

"When I woke up I was in a white room with an oxygen hose up my nose, an IV in my arm, and a heart monitor near my head. I was still in my old clothes and I could see everything that happened to me. My arm was scraped, my leg had a huge gash and my stomach had a white bandage wrapped all the way around my waist. I looked around and saw the County House Supervisor talking to some guy, she shoved some papers, he signed it and she left. I didn't know right then I was becoming US property. I was twelve years old. Not even a teen.

"The guy was my boss, Dwaine Scottsdale"--she said the name with something more than hate--"executive chief of all CIA operations. He had made a deal with the president that if he could train a child as an agent he would attempt to make them one of the greatest weapons in History. They're still working on my 'glitches'." she made air quotations with her hands.

"I thought MI6--"

"--though it up first? No. CIA does steal a lot of ideas, but…"she sat down on the bench beside the wall and stared at her hands again, "not this one.

"I had never thought of spy stuff you know? We see all those movies and think 'oh, I wanna James Bond. I wanna be a spy.' the thought never occurred to me. They just nabbed me and put me on lockdown.

"But you, you on the other hand, your uncle was training, preparing you, your whole life. Of course, he didn't think your first mission was at 14-years-old. No one did. But no one should have to do this 'job' so young. I know that now."

She fell silent.

The square was cleared now. It was about six o'clock, everyone was getting in their dorms because curfew for the school grounds was in fifteen minutes. No one was to be on the school grounds, just in their rooms or on the outside--school, square, mansion, off limits.

"What'd you mean, 'too young'?" Alex asked. He sat down beside her slowly.

Carter had her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped tightly. She stared at them as if she were holding something. A purple strand of hair fell to her face.

"Carter?" he made his voice quiet.

She swallowed and exhaled, "I'll be fifteen next month…its almost been a year." her voice was sullen and remorseful but she kept on, "I've… I've killed before, Rider. I took someone's-someone's life.

"Killing isn't something a teenager or anyone should do. It's wrong. It'll stay in you forever, haunt you till your pushing daisies. I can't forget it."

"What happened?"

Alex had never killed before. Only once had he almost done it but only because Scorpia twisted his mind for it. When he had held up the gun to Mrs. Jones he had to close his eyes to pull the trigger. But nothing happened to her. She had been behind a bulletproof glass that Alex had missed seeing because of his anger and rage. He was curious at what happened to steel-guarded-Carter.

"We were after this guy named John 'Easy' Hardy, he was the CEO of a drug facility. We had found him after three months of searching and finally found the facility. We surrounded the place and had him cornered inside. Six other agents and me went into the building and cornered him into a wall." he hands kept shaking, "And…there was no way out for him.

" 'Please,' he had pleaded, 'don't! I have a child! A wife! A family! Please!' he was so afraid. I lifted the gun but my hand was wanting to drop it so badly.

" 'Do it, Luving,' they said, 'do it now!' I stared at Hardy. His whole life was in my hands now. I was going to do something I had absolutely no right to do. I felt so numb, so cruel.

"They yelled at me one more time. I fired. It was so frightening. His blood spattered from the force of the bullet and hit me. I dropped the gun and fell backwards. I tried to move away from the body but it-it felt like he was coming toward me the entire time. I really had blood on my hands then--it burned like fire on my skin.

"My senses went haywire. I couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything. I was so numb I couldn't cry, couldn't scream, couldn't do anything. I had a friend--Sammy--there with me. He was the only one who ever looked out for me. He told me it was okay, that it would all be over. He took the gun from my hands and carried me out of the building…it was all the worse for us. He died that day too…got shot. We found out that Hardy had actually been working for a group called Black Eclipse and they were the ones who…" she drifted for a moment, "After that I just went downhill."

"How?.."

She looked at him, "I didn't have a soul anymore. I…after thirty I lost count of how many people I've killed, but it's so many. Their faces haunt me in my dreams.

"We're too young for this, Rider, too young."

She seemed so innocent right then, so fragile. Like someone who could be broken in spirit very easily.

"I'm sorry," she said, a smile touching the ends of her lips, "I-I shouldn't have said all that, I just made myself sound like a victim."

Alex looked down and placed his hand on hers. She looked at him and just seemed to stare into his eyes.

"At least I'm not alone," she said, "My past is something I consider dark so thank you for listening."

He shrugged, "Just trying to get to know my partner." _Just trying to get to know _you.

"Come on, let's go."

He helped her up and put his arm around her again, she put her arm around his waist.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Alex opened the door to his dormitory it was as if he had stepped into the W.W.E. arena. Jay and Tyler were on the floor, both of them trying to bring the other down. Ed was standing on the desk chair yelling, "And he has him on the side, looks like he's down--no wait! Ladies and gentlemen the T-Tops has Mr. J on the ropes!"

Tyler was sitting on Jay's back, he went to grab his leg but Jay squirmed and pushed him off. This time, Jay lay on top of Tyler, pulling his leg toward his back, grabbing his hand and putting it under him.

"Mr. J's got him, ladies and gentlemen!" Ed exclaimed, "He has T-Tops down!" he leapt off the chair and onto the floor, crouching on his knees and slapping the floor, "Three, two, one! Mr. J wins!"

Jay jumped up and whooped, "HA! YES! HA! IN YOUR FACE!" he laughed and jumped.

"Lucky win, man," Ty said, a smile tugging on his lips.

"What's all the commotion?" Alex asked, "I could hear you all the way down the hall."

"Were we that loud?" Ed asked, lifting his fallen chair upright.

"Yeah,"

"We're just doing some T.J.E matches."

"T?--what?"

"T.J.E. matches," Jay said, "Tyler, Jay and Ed matches. Just us messing around."

Alex took off his tie and threw it on the bed.

"You all changed?" he asked going toward the closet and grabbing a green-blue Hollister shirt and dark denim jeans, heading toward the bathroom.

"Yeah," Tyler said, "soon as we got here.

"What took you so long anyway?"

"What'd you mean?" Alex said from the bathroom, pulling off his shirt and pulling over his dry one.

"It's been almost twenty minutes since Joust boxed us in the fountain. I thought you were right behind me."

"Nothing," Alex put on the warm jeans, "me and Silver were just talking."

" 'Just talking'?" Alex could hear the sarcasm in Jay's voice all the way in the bathroom.

"Yes just talking,"

"Nothing else?"

Alex walked out of the bathroom and looked at him, "Nothing else."

"Are you sure?" Tyler tapped his temple.

"Come on, guys, stop."

The boys laughed

"There's nothing going on between her and me."

"Of course not," Tyler climbed up to his bunk, "And is especially not now since you and Amy are going together to the ball."

Alex sat on Ed's bed, "I somehow regret that."

"how the heck do you regret that?" Jay asked.

"I'm not a big fan of Amy, or any of her gang for that matter.

Jay and Tyler were quiet, so was Ed but he was normally like that.

"So you don't think they're _hot_?" Jay asked.

"Yeah they're hot but I'm not like the guys who just wanna get in their pants."

"You should have a plaque." Tyler said abruptly.

"A what?"

"A plaque. And it should say 'First Guy Alive To Not Like Late Years and Not Be Gay'."

Alex laughed. He swung himself up to his bunk with one steady movement and stared up at the ceiling.

"So you sneaking out with her tonight?" Tyler asked.

Alex rolled his brown eyes, "Come on, Tyler, that was only once. The other time I couldn't sleep--"

"--So you took a walk. Yeah, I know."

"Just drop it."

"man, chill, it was just a joke."

"But still."

"You like her…don't you?" Tyler's statement made Alex almost clamp down on his tongue.

"No," his answer barely came out.

"Why didn't you ask her to the ball?" Ed asked. Everyone looked at him. Ed wasn't one to ask questions, not this type anyway.

"I don't know."

"But you guys are fighting all the time? Is that the reason you do?"

"No, I--we didn't agree on some things and so you know I just kind of…I don't know."

"You can't even answer a question that's about her."

"Yeah, but--"

"You can't not like her, Garrett."

"And why not?"

"Because it's written all over your face that you do."

Not obvious, Alex gathered all his gadgets into his pockets.

"No it's not."

"Then why were you guys so close--?"

"We got into a fight, she tried to hit me and I grabbed her arms."

"So her leg was just casually hitched on your hip."

"She tried to kick me and I grabbed her foot."

"Sure, sure."

"Whatever," He jumped off the bed and headed to the door, "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Tyler said.

"To the mansion." He opened the door.

"But what about the rule?" Ed asked. He was never one to break rules much.

"Rules were meant to be broken." Alex walked out and shut the door tightly.

He went down the stairs and checked for guards. None patrolled that night and he was glad. He reached the ground floor and opened the door. Closing it quietly he creeped down the sidewalk and past the gates.

The mansion was about an acre away, almost the same distance as the warehouses were from the school, so it took him a while until he got there. The entire way he was walking on a road with two walls on either side of him. The sun was almost setting so he began to run, he didn't want to be on this road at night time. After maybe fifteen minutes he arrived at the back way of the mansion. He jumped out of the road and into the bushes. A car was coming. It was a black jaguar with white rimmed tires and a shining silver muffler.

_What is that? _Alex thought. It turned around the corner and disappeared to the front of the house.

Alex got out of the bushes and ran into the backyard--which was a large garden with several metal arches and broken clay pillars.

There were three fountains in the garden, a sculpture stood in each of them majestically. Roses grew around the sculptures and arches and pillars, each a different color. Alex kept himself from gaping at the color of one of them.

A blue rose.

There was no way. A _blue _rose? But they didn't exist. Was it fake? He walked toward the pillar slowly, it was still light and he was in plain sight. He crouched behind one of the bushes and extended his arm to the pillar. He grabbed the closest rose there and touched it. The petal was soft and very real. So this blue rose was completely totally real.

"CHARLIE!"

Eva Joust's scream scared him out of his wits. He fell backwards and accidentally snatched the rose with him.

He rolled closer to the bush until he was almost under it, the rose in his hand.

"Charlie!" Eva was outside now. She was in the garden!

Alex made his breathing soft and barely noticeable as the headmaster's wife walked around presumably upset.

He raised his head and saw through the branches where she was.

She was near one of the pillars walking slowly with an impatient look on her small face. She was wearing a white sundress that went all the way to her ankles, her hair wasn't in its normal spiked style instead it was down and almost covering her eyes.

"Charlie!" her voice was in between worried and mad as she looked for her husband, Alex could see something had happened.

Eva came to the bush he was under.

Alex's muscles tightened as her foot came near his arm. He didn't move an inch as she stood above him. She looked around and sighed, not suspecting that one of their students was right at her feet.

Eva had her cell phone in hand and dialed a number quickly.

"Come on, Charlie, pick up." she began to pace.

_Come on! Leave! _

He could hear the tones of a voicemail and the simple beep.

"Charlie, baby, listen that man came by today regarding those two new students we received about three weeks ago. I don't know what he wants us to do but he keeps saying that we need to have them expelled before the years over. Please call back, he sounded serious this time." she hung up and went back into the mansion.

Alex waited for three minutes then rolled back out into the open.

What had just happened?

Someone had come by and told the Jousts to drop him and Carter. Why? They hadn't done anything suspicious. Maybe MI6 and CIA was wanting to pull them out. But they would've informed them about first wouldn't they? He shook his head. Why were things getting complicated now?

Standing up, he dusted off his pants and began walking toward the mansion. There was a white picket fence around it, two white stone tables in it and six wooden white chairs. There were two 8-feet-tall glass doors that lead inside and two equally tall windows with cream silk drapes on either side of the door.

Quickly he tried to open the door. It was locked. _Darn, _he thought.

He took out the iPod Smithers gave him and almost pressed the center button when he thought, _They'll notice if I drill a hole into their pretty little white door. I should probably just save this until the ball night. _

He took out the pocket knife he always carried with him and began to pick the lock.

_The things I do when I'm bored. _

The lock sprung and the door opened.

Quietly, he went in and shut the door. He was in the den now. It had light sandy brown walls with past war paintings hanging on them, a fire place with two dragon heads at its ends, a long leather couch and chair, a grizzly bear rug, and a small vanity that looked desperately out of place.

Hearing voices, Alex went towards the entrance of the room, crossing on the bear-skin rug.

"Sorry," he said.

He poked out his head to see if anyone was there. As far as he could see, whoever he had heard was gone.

He got out of the den and began walking around. Pretty soon he came to the winding cream-colored stairs and checkered floor. The paintings were there like last time, so were the pictures and sculptures and vases. And also the doors to the piano-Ballerina-floor room.

He began to try to pass the stairs but heard Eva's heels rapping on the floor. What was with her?! He hid in the shadow of the staircase.

"Eva, it's nothing," Charlie's voice rung in the air. He and Eva were at the front door now.

"But, baby…" she whined.

Alex poked his head out to see them.

"No, buts!" Charlie put his arm around her and pulled her close to him, "Now, we are going to go to this party and are going to forget about this man who called. He didn't leave a name, he never rang."

She smiled, "Okay,"

They were both in formal wear now so Alex guessed their "party" was a formal one.

"Where's Nellie and Franco?" Eva asked softly.

"I gave the staff the night off."

"How sweet of you." her voice was playful and seductive, so were her movements and her eyes.

"Everyone but the driver. Come on, let's go."

He opened the door for her, took her slim hand, and left.

Alex waited three minutes before coming out from behind the staircase.

The staff were gone and so were the Jousts--he couldn't have chosen a better time to come to the mansion…."the luck of the devil".

He walked past the staircase and opened one of the big oak doors from the piano-ballerina-floor room.

It was no different from when he had first seen it three weeks ago.

The same white walls and the single mirror one, the same ballet-wooden-floor, and finally what had been bugging him the entire time he was at Power Point.

The piano.

Closing the door behind him, he walked toward the black topped instrument. It looked so majestic in the lone room.

Running his hand on it he noticed it was clean. Very clean for something that seemed to have never been played.

He lifted the top slowly and set it upright on the holding stick. (Didn't know the name lol)

He scooted into the red padded bench and placed his hands on the keyboard.

…his secret.

He pressed down on the B-flat note then arranged his fingers. He smiled and began to play "Victor's song" from the Tim Burton Film Corpse Bride.

Jack had gone through a Johnny Depp Obsession Phase once and had to watch all of his movies that were ever created. One of them had been Corpse Bride and they had watched it so many times together that he had figured out how to play it on the piano by ear.

He had learned to play the piano by the many classes Ian himself had given him.

_Everyone must have a passion. Something that can say that they have a soul. Whether they are a charity leader or a hitman. Everyone must have a passion. _

His words were clear in his head. The word 'Hitman' then was only a phrase. Not anymore.

He kept playing and stared at his fingers as they overlapped to create their tune.

He looked up and back at the door. He remembered the first time he had gone near the piano and how carter had been standing there, just smiling at him. It had been the first time he saw her smile.

Like how Ian had said everyone has a soft spot. Carter had told him all of her past, her deepest, darkest secrets. They both knew things of each other not many people knew. But somehow--and he knew he shouldn't even think it--he felt she was still hiding something from him.

When she had mentioned her co-agent Sammy's death she had refused to look at him. Why? Maybe he shouldn't be judging her. Maybe she just couldn't look at him for fear of remembering the moment even more. He didn't know.

Alex looked at the door again and pictured the ball. He could see them all there. Quiet Ed. Loud-mouthed Tyler. Smart-aleck Jay. He could see the annoying Late Years there, he could see blonde-curled bubbly Dawnsey and most of all he could see Carter. He could see her gray eyes dancing more alive than ever, could feel the softness of her skin on his, could smell the sweet scent her perfume gave off.

He looked back down at his fingers and kept playing.

What was the ball going to be like?

He hoped it went the way he wanted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max Grendel dabbed at his eyes again. When would the doctors find a cure for this darn cure?

He folded his handkerchief and put it in the pocket at the top of his silk white suit.

He placed his hands palm side down on his cherry wood desk and began drumming his fingers impatiently. He had been waiting a call from his black Magician for over three hours. The gorgeous woman had told him that she would call at seven or so and already it was ten at night.

The phone rang.

He picked it up, "Hello?" his silky voice was smooth on the line.

"I have him. He'll be with me at the night of the ball. What else do you want?" Black Magician's voice was stern and laced with something of anger.

"He's your plus one for this school's charity ball festival?" He took out a cigar from a small hand carved box that was given to him by the prince of Islam.

"You could say that," Black Magician said her words point blank.

"Good, good, now, my dear, whenever the time is right I want you to bring him here to the warehouses, have him see our small 'Drug Works' and then I want you to do one last thing…" he allowed her to finish his sentence.

"…kill him." her words came less then a whisper.

"Thank you, my dear,"

"Grendel, go to--"

He hung before he could hear the rest of her unnecessary profanity.

His plan was all set.

Alex Rider would die in less than two weeks.


	11. Waking Up

"…Garrett! Yo, Garrett it's eight--wake up! Losten!"

Cold water poured down on Alex's face and chest. He gurgled it as he threw off the covers and shoved away whoever was pouring it.

It was Tyler.

"Dude!" Alex yelled, "What the f--!"

"It's eight in the morning--"

"--and it's a freaking Saturday!"

"--and the bus into town is leaving at eight twenty."

Alex rubbed what sleepiness he could out of his eyes and sat up in his bed.

"Eight twenty? Why so early?"

" 'Cause it takes about an hour to get to Jour." Jay was up too, "By the time we get there the stores and places will be open."

"And the hotties will be out." Tyler added.

Jay rolled his eyes, "I think we all know why he's going."

Alex laughed, "Yeah. By the way thanks for the shower."

"No problem." Tyler gave the stupidest smile he'd ever seen.

Alex got up and took off his shirt, heading into the bathroom and taking a quick shower of ten minutes. He dried up quickly and slipped on a black shirt and Levi jeans.

"Hurry up!" Tyler demanded.

"One second!" Alex put some gel into his black locks and shook his head vigorously, giving it an emo look.

He walked out of the bathroom, grabbed his wallet, and the four boys left their dormitory.

At first they walked down the stairs slowly but then realized they only had five minutes before the bus left and began running with all their might.

"Oh crap!" Tyler said as they ran out of the door and toward the square, the bus was leaving, "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!"

"Hold up!" Jay yelled, "Wait!"

"Stop!" Alex called out too, still somewhat sleepy.

"We're not gonna make it," Ed whispered.

"Positive thoughts, Ed! Think freaking positive thoughts!" Jay yelled at him.

"WAIT!" Tyler was yelling at the top of his lungs.

The bus was beginning to speed up now.

_No! _Alex yelled in his mind.

Suddenly Carter appeared from the back of the bus. Her face was in the window and she seemed to be yelling something. She put her index finger up and disappeared.

"What is she doing?" Jay asked.

"I don't know…"

Then the bus started slowing down, Dawnsey's blonde curls were flashing everywhere. It was like she was jumping or something.

Carter went to the back of the bus and opened the emergency door at the back of the door and extended her hand.

"Come on, you idiots!" she said sharply.

Tyler grabbed her hand and jumped on first. He passed her and Jay grabbed onto her next, then Ed and finally came Alex.

He had to quicken his pace though because suddenly the bus started going faster.

"G! G, hurry up!"

"Is that door open?"

Alex could hear the driver asking loudly.

He extended his hand but couldn't reach her.

"I can't!"

"Garrett!" she splayed out her fingers and tried to extend herself to reach him but still couldn't, "Jump! Come on! Just jump!"

Alex almost tripped on his feet. The bus was even faster now.

"Sil!" finally he jumped. His feet left the ground and he barely got her hand.

Carter jerked forward with his weight as he planted his feet on the bumper.

"Gosh, Garrett, ease up on the lunch!" she said, pulling him up.

He fell in and she closed the door

He dusted off his shirt and looked back at her.

There were so many of the Power Point Academy students in there that him and Carter were put chest to chest.

She looked up at him and sort of gave a longing look.

He looked down at her and whispered, "Thank you…" his words were like a sweet whisper.

"You're welcome." she said, her voice equally quiet.

Someone shoved past them and knocked them even closer.

Carter looked away from him as they were pressed together closely, like magnets stuck back to back. They were squished.

"Well, at least I got the morning cardio I've been meaning to do." Carter joked.

Alex laughed, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Silver, Garrett!" Dawnsey was yelling, her New York accent was ringing loud and clear, "Come on, we got seats!"

Carter cleared her throat and slid away from him toward the others.

Alex put his head back and groaned. _This mission better end soon. I'm gonna die if this happens a lot. _

They got to the others to see Dawnsey sitting in a dark-haired blue-eyed guy's lap and Tyler sitting beside them with an angry look on his face.

Dawnsey had her arms around his neck and was looking like she had landed the jackpot of the world, the guy looked at her the same way.

"That's Chace Smith," Carter whispered to him, "Dawnsey's date for the ball."

"That's what I thought."

In the row in front of them was Jay and Ed and behind them was Carter and Alex's seat.

They squeezed in quick before someone grabbed it before them.

"Only you guys could be that late," Dawnsey teased, never letting go of Chace.

"Blame it on, Garrett," Jay teased, "he wouldn't wake up."

"Yeah, so they poured water on me."

"What?" Carter laughed.

"Yeah!"

"It woke you up, didn't it?" Tyler mumbled.

"And you ran all the way here?" Dawnsey asked.

"Yeah," Ed said. He was his usual quiet self today.

"Yeah and almost threw me out of the bus." Carter made her eyes teasingly big.

"That was funny," Jay smiled.

" I would've landed on my face!"

"That's what makes it funny." Alex laughed.

Carter shoved him on the shoulder and laughed, "You're mean, Losten."

He shrugged, "One of my many services."

"Oh yeah and what's your other?" Silver put her hand on his leg and looked at him with seductive eyes.

"Ooh!" Dawnsey teased.

"Guys," Jay said, "not in public."

"Down doggies." Chace said.

Carter laughed out, "You're red."

"Am not," Alex said feeling his cheeks.

"You look like tomato!"

"Shall I describe to you what _you_ look like?"

Carter laughed.

"So what color you wanna wear, baby?" Chace asked Dawnsey, pulling her closer.

She leaned down to him, "Doesn't matter to me. Red?"

He kissed her, "Red's hot."

She kissed him and back and began to curl her fingers into his hair.

"Guys!" Carter said loudly, "_Get a room!"_

"Please!" Jay said.

Dawnsey looked at them and kept on making out with her date.

"You picked terrific seats, Jay," Alex said.

"I thought they could control themselves." Jay retorted.

"Obviously not," Carter grabbed her purse and pulled out a camera, taking a quick snap of Dawnsey and Chace.

Dawnsey looked up and said, "What? You takin' pics 'cause you know this ain't happening to you soon?" she smiled.

"Keep talking, Dawn, I'll get you back hard."

She went back down to Chace.

"Bet you love your seat, Tyler!" Carter said, patting his shoulder.

"Best thing ever…" he replied monotone.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In an hour there were in the town of Jour. Chace and Dawnsey had come up for air and were no longer in need of a hotel suite. Tyler was mad by now, Jay was just working up his teases for the day, and Carter and Alex were doing their best to avoid each other.

As the bus rolled to a stop at the corner of a street, Mr. Quill got up from the front seat and said, "All right you guys, settle down, settle down. I need your attention."

In a few seconds the bus was quiet.

"Okay, now, so it's nine o'clock right now. We need you back by three today. That means in the bus and _seated _by three. Not running to the bus. Not hopping on it. Not leaving the stores by three. We're leaving and leaving you behind. Got it? Good, now go spend the money you have and burn a hole in your pocket."

The students went out by the front doors of the bus and the back door. None of them hesitated in getting out. Three more buses were there at Jour and each held the same amount of students as the one Alex and the others had ridden. Unfortunately, one of them had the Late Years.

"Gary!" Amy called as she stepped out of the bus. She was waving her hand in the air and looking like an idiot.

Carter rolled her eyes, "Go get 'em, 'Gary'." she walked away from him.

Alex took a deep breath and went over to Amy. She bounced across the parking lot over to him and hugged him.

"Hey, baby," she said.

"Amy--"

"I know, I know. We're not actually together we're just going to the ball together." she said, "But just for today, please?"

If kept her shut up. "Fine,"

She giggled, "Great! So what dress shop do we go to first?"

He shrugged, "Don't know."

Chace caught his eye. He put his arm around Dawnsey and looked at Alex like 'do the same'.

Alex made a pained look. Chace looked at him again. 'Just do it'.

Alex--trying to ignore what he was doing--put his arm around Amy's shoulders.

"Why don't you go with the girls and choose out your dress without me?" he suggested, "I mean I'll just slow you down."

"Are you sure, Gary?" she asked, making a pout look on her face.

Alex ignored the new name he got and said, "Yeah. Just surprise me."

She smiled ditsy, "What color are you gonna wear?"

"All black."

He could tell she did not like the decision when she tried to keep the 'ugh' look off her face. All the more to stand by the choice.

"Okay." she gave a fake smile.

"I'll see you at three." he took his arm off her and ran to Carter, Dawnsey, Chace, Tyler, Jay and Ed.

"Not a good experience." he told them, making a fake shiver.

"You cannot appreciate what you have, can you, man?" Jay said.

Alex laughed.

"I'm serious! You are so ungrateful."

"Well, trust me it's not something to be grateful for."

Carter came beside Jay and said, "Hey, Dawnsey, Chace and me are gonna head to the Formal Warehouse, you guys coming?"

"Yeah," Jay said, walking faster to catch up with them.

Alex walked behind them with Tyler.

"He's probably just using her." Tyler said abruptly.

Alex looked at him, "What?"

"Chace. He's probably just using Dawnsey. I mean think about it, she's hot and he just slyly asked her out and look they're making out every minute. Also you can tell he doesn't really want--"

"Ty," Alex interrupted, "chill. He's her date. Let her make her own decisions. Besides what happened to you being all into Silver."

"Well, I know there's absolutely no chance for me. She's definitely out of my league."

"She's on the other side of where your league is." Tyler came into the conversation.

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Tyler snapped.

"Just keeping it real, man."

"Let's just stay fictional for now, 'kay?"

"Why don't you just ask her?" Alex barely said the words, they were lodged in his throat tightly, "She's-she's not going with anyone yet."

"Yeah, but it's weird."

"How?"

"Garrett," Jay said, "are you seriously asking that question?"

"What'd I--"

"You're into her, man, that's why we're backing off." Tyler said.

"No, I'm not!" Alex almost yelled.

"Yeah, you are!" his roommates said in unison.

Alex groaned, "Ed, help me."

Ed had been so silent they almost forgot he was even there.

He shrugged, "You like her."

"That's not help!"

"If you don't like her, then why do you react so hard when we mention it that way?" Jay asked.

"Because it's seriously getting on my nerve."

"If you didn't react like that we wouldn't tease you."

"Yeah, you would."

Jay shrugged, "Yeah we would."

They got to the Formal Warehouse in five minutes, crossing the street and stepping into a black white and red store that was filled with Tuxedos, Dresses, shoes, signs for limo rentals and pictures. It was definitely something he didn't expect.

As soon as they walked in they all went in separate directions--all but Alex and Carter.

They did it on purpose. He rolled his eyes at the obvious scene.

"Are you for real?" Carter swung her head at him with an annoyed look.

"What?" he asked.

"You seriously told Tyler to ask me out to the ball?"

He stammered, "How--but, how did you hear us? You were--"

"I work for CIA. That answer your question?"

"Yeah, yeah. And yes I told him to."

"Why!?"

"Because…I really don't know."

She rolled her big gray eyes.

"How much more did you hear?" he asked her.

"After that--nothing. Dawnsey started talking and I was listening _intently_."

They were walking slowly in the aisles now, he had his hands in his pockets and she was swinging her arms back and forth.

"Why did you agree?" Carter finally asked, breaking the silence that had lasted less than thirty seconds.

"To what?" she was popping questions that he wasn't ever expecting.

"Diputs…"

He got it and sighed, "I…well, I didn't want to make anyone in the school suspicious."

"Suspicious of what?" she didn't sound mad and she didn't sound annoyed, she sounded…hurt. Hurt from what?

"Amy Diputs is Amy Diputs, okay. Every guy wants to be with her. Somehow she wants to be with me. If I denied her offer then--"

"Don't make this sound like something else, Rider."

"If I said no I would've looked stupid okay. That's why I agreed."

"That's the dumbest excuse I've ever--"

Alex grabbed her shoulders and cornered her into a rack of dresses.

"I didn't want to." he said.

She looked at him with scorned eyes. "But you did. And that's the fact."

"What's it to you anyway?"

"Nothing." she said sharply, "I just--if you get in too deep then it'll be too hard to get out when the mission's over."

"We're talking about Amy Diputs not me and yo--" he cut himself off.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then we'll leave it at that." she shoved him off and walked away from him.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, accidentally pulling out a strand.

"Ouch," he put the strand in his hand and looked at it. His natural fair hair was about a centimeter grown out from the black dye that MI6 had put in. The real him was coming out.

A woman with long dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and a petite body came up to him asking, "Do you need help finding anything?"

Alex bit his lip and put his hands in his pockets and said, "Well, I'm looking for a tux."

"Oh, your English," her French accent rang.

"Yes, I'm from the Power--"

"Point academy, oui, oui, I've had lots of students from zhere. What kind of Tuxedo er you looking for?"

"Um…black?"

She laughed.

"Let me show you some we have."

She led him down the aisles of tuxedos and dresses and showed him a lot of the tuxes he could use.

Some of them reached to his knees and had suspenders, some were striped and some were plaid, some were short and some were long. She made him try on several types of the tuxedos. By the time he was on the fifth one, Tyler, Ed and Jay came to where he was.

He was putting on a suit jacket when Tyler said, "Found one?"

"I don't really know," he had on a black suit with yellow stripes that were thick and thin, "but I'm definitely not taking this one."

They laughed.

"Did you find yours?" he asked them.

"I got mine," Ed said quietly, holding a black suit with a gray tie and a silver shirt in a plastic bag.

"What about Dawnsey, Chace and Silver?"

"They're still looking around." Jay told them, "Dawnsey has to find the 'it' dress. But seriously if her and Chace could stop sucking face she might find something."

"It should be illegal for them to be doing that in public." Tyler mumbled.

"Tyler, face it, she's going out with him. The end." Alex could tell Jay was starting to get annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah,"

"I'll drill it in your head next time just in case you didn't get it."

"Let's go to another place." Alex suggested.

"Yeah," Tyler tugged on his shirt collar, "it's a little stuffy in here."

Alex went back into the dressing room and put his old clothes back on, hanging up the suit and saying, "Thank you!" to the woman. They went out of the store, closing the door as the bell on the handle rang lightly.

For two hours they went to four other stores. Jay and Tyler were being oddly precise in what they wanted as their pick; Alex was just looking for something black and comfortable. Yet somehow the dressers--women from at least seventeen to twenty-three--couldn't help but slip different kinds of suits on him. He felt like a mannequin. But he couldn't say no. That made him feel bad. But he felt like a solid red mannequin when one of them, a girl with brown short hair and black eyes, helped him slip on a black pinstripe jacket and ran her hands down the sleeves, putting her head near his temple and whispering in his ear, "Now, _that's _something to gawk at."

When he looked at the mirror and saw Carter, Dawnsey and Chace enter the store he quickly turned around and began to take off the jacket.

"That's okay," he said, still feeling the heat in his cheeks, "I'm-I'm not, well--" he slipped back into the dressing room and began to get into his clothes.

When he got out, he had the suit on its hanger and handed it to the girl.

"I think I'm gonna go with a different one."

He got off the dressing platform and walked to his friends.

Chace had a plastic clear bag with his suit slung on his shoulder and an arm around Dawnsey. Carter had a long white dress bag that contained her dress. He couldn't see anything of the dress and it seemed to be teasing him.

"You guys got your wear?" he asked them as he came to them.

"Chace did," Dawnsey said leaning against him.

"But Dawnsey's too freaking picky." he teased her.

"I want the right dress. Sue me." she smiled.

Carter held her dress in one arm, a smile on her face as well.

"You got yours too?" Alex asked her.

"Yeah," she said.

"What's it look like?"

She lifted her shoulders and teasingly said, "You'll just have to wait."

"Are you serious?"

"Very," her eyes were mischievously wide.

"Dude," Chace said, "don't feel bad, she wouldn't even let me see it."

"But trust me," Dawnsey cut in, "it's a knock out."

"Hmm," Alex nodded.

"You not found a suit yet?" Carter asked him.

"No, um, they don't really fit comfortably."

"Well, you still have time. It's just now eleven forty-five."

Suddenly there was a deep rumbling sound that sounded near the ground. Alex wrapped his arms around his abs, the blood was rushing to his cheeks.

Dawnsey giggled, "Hungry, Garrett?"

He laughed, "I guess I forgot to eat this morning."

"Well let's go get something."

"Tyler! Jay! Ed! Come on!" Chace yelled, "We're hungry."

All of the sudden you could hear Jay and Tyler yelling.

Jay was running to them and fell to the ground on purpose, sliding on the wooden floor and posing his arms like he was playing a guitar, making the sounds too.

"What on earth?" Carter said.

Tyler came running past him, jumped over Jay and ran out of the store yelling, "No! No! No! _Come on_!!!"

He was bouncing outside like an idiot.

"What's going on?" Carter asked, "Why'd he just--?"

"I got a date before Tyler did!" He jumped up, dropping the suit bag he had on his shoulder, "And we asked out the _same _girl! Hahahaha!!!" he jumped in the air and pretended to play air guitar.

"Oh my God, you guys are idiots." Dawnsey laughed.

"So who is she?" Carter asked.

"The hottie blur of lightening at the counter." Jay pointed at her.

The girl was about 5' 4", brown curly hair with long legs and a petite body. Alex would've preferred asking _her--_a total stranger--out to saying yes to Amy.

"Good job!" Chace high-fived him.

"Can we go eat?" Alex asked, his stomach growling like an avalanche.

"Yeah, let's go." Dawnsey and Chace went out of the store first, Jay went after them and then Alex and Carter.

Carter looked at Alex and said, "I'm glad she didn't say yes to Tyler."

"Why?" he held the door open for her.

"Because if she had then I'd be out fifty bucks."

"I forgot about that." they waited at the curb of the street. The traffic was still going and the light wasn't red yet.

"So now it's Tyler, Ed and me that don't have dates." she said, holding the dress carefully in her arms.

"Want me to hold it for you?" he asked.

She looked down at the bag and seemed to decide on it, finally she said, "Okay. But no peeking."

"It's not for me anyway." he slung it on his arm, "It's for a date of yours."

She tittered, "If I get one."

The walk sign blinked on, flashing words in French.

They got on the cross walk and began walking.

"Gavin Taylor asked me out." she said abruptly.

Alex tried his best to not show his dislike.

Gavin Taylor was one of the playboys of the school. A male Amy Diputs you may say. He was six foot one, had brown shaggy hair, and the most devious blue eyes anybody ever saw. He was a football jock and the reason he had been sent to the Power Point Academy was because he had attacked an officer when they arrested him for doing crack. All of this and he was sixteen.

Of course that had happened two years ago, the only reason he was still there at Power Point was because no other school system would take him. Not even a boot camp!

"Did you say yes?" he asked, the question lodging in his throat.

"I told him I'd think about it."

"What's to think about…" Alex said under his breath, not wanting for her to hear.

"Do you want me to say yes?" Carter snapped as they got to the other side.

"Well, I mean, I said yes to Amy, you could say yes to him I guess."

"You, guess?" he put her hands on her hips, "What'd you control me now? And what's it to you?"

"Nothing. I just, I don't like him. And I don't think you should go with him." he was getting upset at the fact she was thinking about it.

"Well then," she cocked her head, "I think I'll just say yes so that 'no one gets suspicious of me'." she popped the gum in her mouth and kept walking.

She threw back Alex's words like a smack in the face.

He caught up with her, "Look, I'm sorry." he said, still holding her dress, "I just, I mean you gave me that whole don't-get-in-too-deep lecture and I didn't think you'd actually _consider _saying yes to him."

"I'm not going to get in deep, Rider," she snapped, "I'm just doing what seems right."

"You're mocking me!"

"Good job, Mr. Obvious, you figured something out."

"So you're really gonna say yes?"

She shrugged, "I guess. But if he gets sick in the middle of the dance--not my fault."

He laughed, "You amaze me everyday."

"I amaze myself." she smiled.

She crossed her arms, then rubbed them, then started swinging them in between she and he, then she rubbed her hands. Alex noticed they were shaking. He realized why after a second.

"You haven't taken the pills, have you?" he asked.

She grabbed one of arms and looked at him pitifully.

"Um," she bit her lip and shook her head quickly.

She was acting like a smoker who was smacking the nicotine patches on their arm or back.

He sighed.

"Not doing good, huh?"

"I haven't taken one since yesterday. So yeah, not doing good."

"Take one." he said. The words didn't even sound like him.

"What?"

"Take one. But promise me…"

She looked at him deeply as he talked.

"That you'll stop when we get home."

She smiled, "I promise."

He put the dress on his shoulder, wanting desperately to see what was in the pure white bag. He knew anything that Carter wore--even the uniform!--made every guy drool for her. What would a formal dress that was possibly-and-most-likely tight and somehow revealing make them go after her. He wanted to peek at it, but he didn't. He would most likely get his butt kicked for doing so.

They walked into a small restaurant that was named "Le Rosa Azul" it meant "The Blue Rose". It reminded Alex from when he had snuck into Jousts' Mansion and found the pillars that was entwined with the roses. What had shocked him was that they were blue.

As they went in he made sure he opened the door for Carter. Inside they were many people sitting at small tables that had a circular top with a design of the Fleur-de-lis and steel legs that bent into a swirl at the floor. The walls of the restaurant were stone and cream colored and had windows with crossed lines across it and silk purple curtains that pulled up in the middle.

The eight of them got into the line and were looking at the menu to order.

"How much are the prices here do you think?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. Maybe not a lot." Carter shrugged.

After ten minutes it was their turn to order. She went first and paid quickly, then he went and did the same.

He was pretty sure at what he had ordered. A toasted jack cheese and chicken sandwich with a side of steak fries…he thought. His French was pretty rusty.

They had to pull two tables together because one only had four seats.

They started talking as they waited for their food, laughing and enjoying their time together.

They pulled a spare chair to their table and placed, Ed, Jay, Chace, and Carter's clothes on it.

As their food came they didn't stop talking, only sometimes to say thank you to the waiter.

Alex had thankfully ordered the right thing. Dawnsey had ordered a Caesar salad and a water, Tyler had ordered a house salad and a water, Chace, Ed, and Jay ordered grilled chicken sandwich with fries, and Carter ordered a cheeseburger with fries and a sprite.

As she took a bite Alex whispered, "We're in France, Carter. Are you serious?" he glimpsed down at her food.

She swallowed, "What? I like to keep my American side alive."

He laughed, "Of course,"

"I'm surprised you didn't order a cup of hot tea." she made a bad attempt of on English accent at the last two words.

"Hey! Tea's not all that bad."

"Of course." she scrunched her nose.

"What time is it?" Jay asked.

"Um," Chace looked down at his watch, "it's twelve fifteen now."

As they talked, Carter slipped her hand in her pocket and popped open the pill bottle quietly, tilting it so two pills would drop in her hand. Then she pretended to get a fry and stuck the pills in the front of her burger.

Alex didn't look at her as she took a bite then drank some of her Sprite, he just looked straight at Tyler and laughed with him.

Carter put her hand on his leg and squeezed it gently. He looked at her as he felt the movement. She mouthed, "It's okay," at him but Alex just bit the inside of his cheek and looked back down at his food.

She moved her hand and put it back on her lap.

As he took a bite of his sandwich he almost puked in his mouth as he heard the most horrible word screech into the restaurant.

"Gary!"

"Oh my gosh," Carter ad Dawnsey groaned.

"Oh my gosh!" Tyler and Jay said, their eyes huge.

"You have a date." Chace reminded Jay.

"Yeah…but still." Jay laughed.

Amy, Melanie, Melinda, and Bella came into the restaurant and Amy ran to Alex and slid onto his lap.

"Hey, Gary," she slid her arms on his neck and arched her neck to bend toward him.

"Hey Amy," he said blandly.

"Got your suit?" she asked, "Because I got my dress."

He shook his head, "No, A, I didn't find one."

"They don't sell all black?" she said with a hopeful squeak.

He smiled, "They do. And I'm sure I can find one but none of them have been comfortable."

"Maybe if you look for a white one it'll be comfy." she smiled with a fake smile.

He looked at Jay and found his excuse, "Well, um, Jay's going all white and I don't he'd want to look like my twin." he gripped his chair as she got closer.

"Oh, well then I'm wearing red so--"

"--black would match perfectly."

She smiled and got off him, rolling her eyes. "That's fine." her voice was steely and obvious that she was trying to show she was hiding her agitation.

"Well, um, me and the girls are going across the street to eat so I'll see you in a few."

She traced her finger on his cheek and across his jaw like the first time she had touched him, and like the first time he just smiled blandly and said, "Okay,"

They left the restaurant and Alex groaned.

" 'Maybe if you find a white one it'll be comfy'!" Carter mimicked Amy with a higher pitch in tone, making a squeak and rolling her eyes. She ate a bite from her food.

"I know, I know."

"Why on earth did you tell her yes?" Dawnsey asked, cocking her head on Chace's shoulder.

"I don't know." he said.

"His head wasn't functioning." Carter said sharply.

"His head was functioning perfectly," Tyler said.

"If you adore her so much, why didn't you ask her?" Carter said with a smart-aleck look on her face.

"Because she asked Garrett before I could ask her."

"Sure, sure." she looked annoyed now.

Alex slid his hand on her leg this time, his fingers touching her hand. She looked at him and he gave her an "it's not real" look. She just looked down and shook her head once.

"Thanks for not agreeing to the white tux," Jay said, "I already share a room with you so I don't really want to match you."

Alex laughed as he drank the last bit of his water, never moving his hand from Carter's leg.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Just go with that one, Garrett!" Tyler groaned, laying his head back on the chair, "I don't think Silver will care at what you wear man, you're acting like a girl."

It was forty five minutes after they had ate lunch and Ed, Tyler, Jay and he had separated from the other three to get Tyler and Alex their suits--Tyler had gotten his in the first store they went in after lunch but it was the third warehouse for Alex.

"I am not." Alex said, "None of them feel right."

"It's a suit!" Tyler snapped, "You're gonna wear it once and it'll probably just stay on the floor or in your closet for the rest of your life."

Alex agreed in his mind and decided that the eat-everything-in-sight friend was right. He might as well just go with one that was simple and cheap.

"Yeah, you're right."

"I'm right all the--"

"No you're not." Jay cut in, "You're not right all the time. You weren't right that you were gonna ask Silver out or Dawnsey. And you sure aren't right that you're gonna get a date before Silver."

"Says who?"

"Reality."

Alex went back in the dressing room and took off the suit he had on, putting on the next one that the sales lady had given him. Thankfully she had been an older woman, possibly in her sixties or late fifties, and hadn't hit on him like the younger ones.

He slipped on the pants, buttoned the shirt, and slipped on the jacket. He actually liked this suit. The neck line and cuffs were silk but the rest of the jacket and pants were the regular material most designers used for suits. It had three buttons at his abs that were shiny and black--like the rest of the suit--and the shirt was a dusty black that looked more granite colored than black. He unbuttoned the first three buttons of the shirt, he wasn't gonna wear a tie or anything so he'd decided that open would look the best.

He came out of the dressing room and asked, "How's this look?"

Jay and Ed nodded their approval, but Tyler just blurted, "Yeah, it looks good--let's go!"

"Where are off to in such a hurry? We still have like two hours."

"Yeah but there's these Nike kicks I want and they're cheap so they'll be out fast."

"Dude, you have more Nike kicks than a girl has shoes!" Jay said.

"Still. I already have the stupid suit I have to wear next Saturday and actually have some money leftover so I might as well buy the kicks."

Alex rolled his eyes, "Do you think it looks fine?"

"You know I would say that you look really, really hot in the suit, but that would make me sound gay so just pretend you didn't hear that."

He smiled, "Alright I'm gonna get this one,"

Alex headed back into the dressing room and began to put his own clothes back on.

As he zipped his pants he phone beeped.

He slid it open and realized he had just gotten a text…from Carter. Pressing the "Read Message" button he read what she had said:

Fountain tonight at ten. Scout Warehouses.

He bit the inside of his lip and sent back his reply: Ten it is.

"Come on!" Tyler yelled.

His roommate was starting to get on his nerves now.

He slipped on the shirt and grabbed the hanger with the suit.

"I'm out! Happy?"

"I will be when we're out of the actual store."

On the way to the cashier Alex looked out the window and saw Carter. She wasn't alone. Dawnsey and Chace were walking away from her…and Gavin was standing in front of her.

Alex had the worst feeling in his stomach and the taste of bile in the back of his mouth. He handed the cashier his suit and she checked for the price tags and began scanning it. He never looked at her though, he was too fixated at the scene outside the window.

Gavin was leaning against the glass with a look on his face that Alex wanted to smack off. From reading his lips he could see that he asking her out again. Alex looked at Carter.

_No. Say no. _

Carter got close to him and pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around him, and--_No!--_kissing him. She looked at him and said, "Yes," then Gavin smiled and they kissed again.

But Alex knew it was a show because the second time Carter opened her eyes and looked back at Alex.

Alex turned his head quickly to hear the lady telling him the price of his purchase for the third time.

"Pardone moi," he said handing her the money.

Grabbing the suit, he looked back out and saw that Carter and Gavin were gone.

He sighed and headed out the door.

As he slung the suit, Tyler came up to him and said, "Sorry, man."

"About what?"

"I saw you gawking at Silver and Gavin. You clenched your hand so hard I thought that maybe you were getting ready to hit something."

Alex brought his hand up to his face and saw that there were fingernail marks in his palm.

"I mustn't have been thinking."

"Who could of? Neither of us thought that she'd actually go for trash like Taylor."

"Show's how much we know." Alex looked at the sidewalk as he talked.

"Look, I bet she doesn't even like him."

"Dude, she was making out with him in front of the--"

"Yeah, but she looked back at you."

"Or maybe it was you." Alex said in a joking tone.

Tyler snorted, "Highly doubt that."

As it got quiet Tyler suddenly blurted, "Ah! Crap!"

"What?"

"I'm out fifty bucks."

Alex laughed.

They got to the Nike store that Tyler was talking about--strange that there was one not three blocks from a Tuxedo place and that it was even there in France.

Tyler went in and seemed to know exactly where he was going. Jay, Ed, and Alex just sat in the solid circle thing in the center of the store and waited for him. The sitting was against a poster that was like a pillar and had Michael Jordan's face smacked on it so Alex leaned against it and brought his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his knees.

What he had seen had really bothered him. He knew it shouldn't. He didn't even know if he liked Carter, but he knew one thing: he shouldn't. When the mission ended she would go back to America and he would stay in England. If he was close to her--which he had already grown to be--then it hurt him like Ash's death had. Going through something like that wouldn't hurt him--it'd destroy him.

So seeing Gavin kiss her shouldn't be hurting him like it was. He knew better. He knew he didn't need to get involved with her…but he wanted to. He had wanted to be Gavin that moment. To hold her in his arms and actually kiss her. He wanted to go with her to the ball, he wanted to dance with her, to tell her good night and be her plus one. He shook his head to himself and tried to shake of the feeling in his stomach. He wanted to wash his mouth, the taste of bile was still there.

"What're you doing?" Jay asked Ed as the quiet boy flipped out his phone and began texting a message.

"Asking out Erin Johnson," Ed said quietly.

Jay through his arms up like a referee proclaiming a touchdown, "He speaks! He speaks! Did everyone hear that, the dead are coming back to life!"

Ed rolled his eyes. Alex laughed, "And you wonder why he's always so quiet."

Jay shrugged.

Ed received a text back, replied and stuffed the phone back in his pocket. Jay stared at him.

Ed finally sensed it and slowly turned to look at him, "What's your problem?"

"What'd she say?"

"She said yeah." Ed said softly.

"Ed's got a date ladies and gentlemen! Ed's got a--"

Ed took a display shoe from the rack and chunked it at Jay, making him fall of the edge of the circle and on his back with his legs still on the circle.

"Shut up,"

Jay laughed.

"Who got a date?" Tyler yelled from the other side of the store.

Alex started laughing.

"Ed did," Jay said, "Erin Johnson!"

"Nice one,"

Ed was turning red and finally got up and left the store.

"Ed!" Jay scrambled up, "Come on, it was a joke."

"So is your face." Ed retorted.

"Ooh, he has a defense mechanism." Jay went out the store after him.

Tyler was at the cashier paying for the kicks he had gotten. He came to Alex and showed him the bag, "Ready." he said.

Alex got out of his ball and walked out of the store with him.

They walked out and saw Jay jumping on Ed's back and annoying the heck out of him.

"Stop!" Ed yelled.

Jay was laughing as hard as he could.

"You're gonna ruin our suits, man!"

"Who cares?" Jay gave Ed a nuggie and Ed tried to get him off of him.

"Ed's really gonna hate him when we get back to the school." Tyler said, slinging the suit and shoes over his shoulder.

"Yeah." Alex did the same with his suit.

"What time is it now?" he asked him.

"Uh…" Alex took out his phone to find a text on it. He accidentally pushed the "Read" button and the message came in full blown view that even Tyler saw: Don't have a heart attack. It's not real.

The message was from Carter. He exited the message quickly and saw the time, "One fifteen."

" 'It's not real'?" Tyler recited.

Alex shrugged, "She must've sent it to me by accident."

"Garrett, when are you gonna stop believing that crap?"

"When you figure out that it's real. Okay?"

"Fine. Whatever."

Alex didn't want to bring up the subject again so he sped up naturally and they both caught up the Jay and Ed.

And for the next two hours, Alex pretended to text someone--but really he was staring at the one text message he had gotten from Carter, wondering if what she said was true.

When they boarded the bus at three he was just getting it in his mind that he was right. Plain and simple. It was real. When he saw Gavin and Carter go to the back and act worse than Dawnsey and Chace.

"Oh, I think they're beating you." Jay told Dawnsey.

She just rolled her eyes.

Luckily Carter and the football-trash were out of everybody's sight, leaning against a small emergency cabinet that probably no one--except for the people in the cars behind them--could see them.

Maybe they were just talking. Maybe nothing was really going on. She couldn't be making out with him already. Not this soon.

He kept his hopes alive through the ride home.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the day was really foggy for Alex. He had gotten back to the dorm, put up the suit and decided to play some video games against Jay--pretending to be fine and that nothing was wrong. But he was really starting to get tired of playing a role he wasn't. Although he had gotten pretty good at it from the past nine months. So he was pretty glad when nine o'clock rung on the clock.

"Hey, um, I'm gonna go take a walk." he told his roommates, slipping on his Hollister hoodie.

"She's got a date." Tyler and Jay said in unison, still playing the game.

"I'm not going for her." Lie. "I'm going to the fountain to just walk." Half-lie. "I told someone I'd meet them there." True.

"Who?" Tyler asked.

Alex rambled his mind quickly, "Uh…Amy." Lie.

"Whatever. Just go now."

Alex opened the door to get out.

"And tell Silver we said, 'Hi'," Jay said.

Alex slammed the door shut to prove a point.

He put his hands through his pockets and went down the stairs at a jogging pace. He really didn't care to go fast at the moment although he knew that Carter would definitely scream at him for being late, but he really didn't want to go tonight. Well, half of him didn't want to. The other half was just longing to see her.

When he got to the bottom floor he totally forgot about the security. He slid behind the wall quickly and stood still. A guard was passing by and almost caught him.

He had forgotten about the security because the last time they had gone to the warehouses--three weeks ago--there had been none.

When the guard was gone, Alex ran to the door and slipped out quietly. In a matter of minutes he was at Square two. He walked to the fountain and saw that Carter wasn't there.

What the heck? She was always on time, to everything! What could've been--

"BOO!"

Alex kept himself from yelling as Carter jumped out at him from behind a pillar of the square. She started laughing when she saw his reaction.

"Don't do that!" Alex said, somewhat irritated.

"Chill, Rider," she said, "Did you get your gadgets right?"

He almost said he didn't when he felt in his pocket that they were in there. The camera sphere, the iPod, and the brass knuckle. He slid on the brass knuckle and felt the cool of the metal on his fingers. He nodded.

"Did you bring yours?" he asked.

"Just the iPod and camera sphere. I don't think I'll need to stab or electrocute anyone tonight." she smiled timidly at him and frowned, "Hey are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" she hooked her arm into his.

"I'm fine." he snapped, moving his arm.

"No, you're not." she said, "You never back away from me. What--"

"It feels like you're rustling the bed sheets twice in one night, Carter." he snapped and instantly wanted to take it back. Of all the remarks he could have said he said that one. If there would've been a window he would've hurled himself out of it.

Carter lifted her eyebrows and cocked her head, "Rustling--excuse me?" she was upset.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't--"

"I don't want your remorse!" she snapped, "You wanna talk about rustling the sheets, what about that little ho that you're dating 'Gary'. Huh?!"

"I'm not making out with her every second like Chace and Dawnsey."

"But you're with her. And apparently there's no problem in that but--go figure--there's a problem with me getting with Gavin."

"Carter, you look like you're going third base with him!"

"I'm not stupid! That's why I text messaged you 'it's not real'! Just get it through that stupid blown up head of yours!"

"Look I didn't mean it the way--"

"SHUT UP!" she yelled.

He flinched. That was really the only time she had ever really yelled at him. It hurt him.

"You listen to me! Okay, I don't give a darn if it looks that way to you, Rider! You started caring too late! So get over it! I can't believe I actually cared at how you felt about Gavin and me, I actually _asked _you!" she looked like she was so mad that she could cry.

Alex hadn't meant to say that. He wanted to apologize but knew that it wasn't time for that.

"I don't care about him, Rider, I don't give a crap about him. But if you get on to me for acting that way with him and you're still with Diputs then I'm gonna start feeling the same way about you."

She walked out of the square, looking back at him and saying, "Hurry up,"

Alex followed her.

They walked out of the square and into the small acre outside of it. There was a shed in the middle of it and Carter was walking angrily over to it. She bent down and messed with the lock on the door handle. The moon was shining pretty good that night so they could both see what was going on.

"What're you doing?" he hesitantly asked.

She stood up and kicked the door hard, "Trying to open the freaking door, what's it look like?"

She wiped her face on her sleeve. Was she crying? He got close to her.

"Carter?" he said her name softly. She didn't turn to him but kept wiping her eyes on the end of the overly-long sleeves of her blue sweater.

"Carter," he repeated, this time placing his hand on her shoulder and gently pulling her. She willing came in his direction and looked at him. She _was _crying. His heart felt like it had taken a thousand bullets and his soul like it had shot them. What had he done?

He pulled her close to him and embraced her. Carter put her cheek to his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. He had an arm on her back and one against her head, and his face was in her hair.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her hair, holding her gently but surely, "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have opened my mouth. I've gone and made you cry…I didn't mean to."

He could feel her tears seep into his shirt. But they were silent tears. She didn't make a gasping sound or moan or sniffle. She didn't make a single sound. She was silent. Did she always cry like this?

"I'm sorry," his voice cracked once.

She began to pull away but still kept wiping her eyes with her sleeve, "It's fine," she said, her voice was barely a whisper.

"No it's not. I really shouldn't have said that."

"And I'm saying that it's really okay."

She turned back to the lock and rolled her shoulders.

"Now then," she got her iPod from her pants pocket and began to press the center button, "This'll have 'em wondering, huh?"

She pressed down on the button for three seconds and the laser came out, slicing through the metal locks.

The entire lock fell from the door handle and fell on the ground with a small thump. She opened the doors and went in.

"Carter, what're you doing?" he asked going in after her.

He walked into a big, hard, metal object that bruised his leg for sure.

"Carter--" a light from the ceiling of the shed popped on. Carter was standing on the objects to reach the light. When it turned on she jumped down and pulled the covers that were over the things. Under it were two four wheelers. They had lightening bolts on the side of them and reflectors all over them. The keys were dangling on the wall of the shed.

"Where did you?…" he began and just faded his question.

"I overheard some students talking about them." she explained, her eyes red and puffy, "They're the jousts but that just makes it all the better to 'borrow' them."

She grabbed the keys and tossed one to Alex.

"We could've definitely used these three weeks ago." he said flipping the keys in his palm.

"I know." she smiled. She hopped on the seat and adjusted her jabbing the key into the ignition and turning it away from her.

The four-wheeler gave a quiet roar of the engine as it started and Carter gave it gas.

"This is nice," she rubbed her hands across the metal and closed her eyes.

Alex got on his and started it. He found the gas and turned to look at her.

"Ready?" he asked.

She looked back at him and smiled, she looked like he had never hurt her feelings in the first place, "Let's go."

She let go of the brake and raced out the door. Alex did the same and went after her.

The school became smaller and smaller as they got farther from it.

The wind was hitting Alex smoothly and the sounds of the night sounded faint and quick.

He heard Carter laughing as she drove, her hair flying behind her like a silky rainbow of black, purple, and pink. Alex laughed too. He was really enjoying the rider.

Carter drove close to him the entire time. Not to close to where it was dangerous but to where it was just right.

The first mile traveled was in less then five minutes, compare to their fifteen minutes on foot. The lights of the Scorpia warehouses were already brightening part of the sky.

How had the warehouses stayed there without being questioned? That was the question that kept wandering into his head ever since the first time they went.

They raced forward to complete the second mile and finally the third.

They stopped the four-wheelers about fifty yards from the hill they were on last time and shut them down.

Alex put the key in his pocket and said, "Wow."

Carter looked at him, "What?" her voice sounded sweet then.

"We got here in less then twenty minutes. It took an_ hour _last time."

She giggled, "I know."

They came toward each other and began to walk toward the hill.

They got up to the top and laid flat on their stomach. The light of the warehouses were brighter this time and they were lit pretty well.

From their view, Alex could tell that it was busier that night too. More than three trucks came in at the same time delivering what they had last time: people. Each truck was labeled a different company but each contained over twelve people. Just in the first load Alex counted thirty-six people.

"Did you bring those binoculars?" he asked Carter.

She nodded and handed them to him. As he took them she pulled a second one--a small one--from the front of her shirt and stared into the as well.

Alex saw the same blonde guy that was there last time. This time he had three days worth of stubble on his chin, a cigar instead of a cigarette was in his mouth and instead of a small pistol he had German-made fifty-eight round machine gun. He seemed to be jumpy that day and by the bags under his eyes he guessed the man hadn't been getting a lot of sleep.

The people were unloaded again and put through the sewer line in the middle of the warehouses. Apparently there were steps into it because every person went down gradually instead of hopping down into it.

"Everything looks the same," Alex remarked.

"Yeah," Carter said, "None of the guards positions have changed and it seems that the main entrance is still that last building at the right."

"Wait, what's that?"

A large gas truck pulled in and stopped near the wall of the entrance. The driver got down and went to the compartment behind the truck, pulling out a long transparent hose and connecting it with the truck. There were two small wells near the wall with tops that made it look two more sewer drains. The man connected another hose and then went to the wells, lifting off the lids and placing the open end of the hose through them.

"They buying gas?" Alex asked.

"I don't know…"

Then he went back into the cabin of the truck and suddenly a clear green liquid went through the hose and poured into the wells.

"What's…?"

"It looks like radioactive stuff," Carter squinting into her binoculars, "That's not any normal drug, look at what the spilt stuff's doing to the ground around those wells."

Alex wasn't getting it. The liquid was melting, literally _melting _the ground around it, but what was it? It couldn't possibly be any drug. Last he heard heroine only made you delusional and sick.

But then the blonde-smoker-man went over to the liquid and put his hand in it.

"What the heck?!" Alex yelled.

The man held a good amount of it and smiled. It wasn't burning his hands. It wasn't doing anything to him. But then Alex noticed that noticed the man's skin seemed to turn to a grayish tone and look like marble. The liquid seemed to strengthen his hand. But then the skin turn pale peach again and the man groaned.

"That's not a drug, Carter,"

"No…"

"It's like those pills you're taking. A Human Damage prevention thing, it made his skin stronger for a second!"

"Think they got the idea from CIA?" Carter asked quickly.

"I don't know. But they sure got it from somewhere. But look it seems to take time. It didn't stay on that guy for long."

After fifteen minutes, the last of the weird-radioactive-green-liquid stopped pouring and the man did all that he did the first time, only in reverse. Then he went to the blonde-smoker and began speaking quickly. The man handed him a medium brown bag that was tied on the top and the driver hopped back into his truck and drove off.

"The shipment thing is from Russia." Alex said.

"What makes you say that?"

"I know the Russian flag when I see it. Look at the back of the truck." There the flag was imprinted to the metal, displayed boldly to anyone who knew what it was.

"So…" Carter brought the binoculars down and looked at him, "They're not working on drugs, they're functioning with that green stuff, and the shipments from Russia?"

"Looks like it."

"What about the people? Do you think they're experimenting the stuff with them?"

"I don't know. But they're doing something with them, and I don't think it's having afternoon tea."

"Ditto,"

Then an idea came to Alex, first he asked, "Hey, do you know if our camera spheres catch any sound, or just images?"

"It catches sound. It's everything of a video camera."

"Maybe if we throw it down there right now we can figure out what's that gunk is, do you think?"

His idea was a good one. The men An older man had joined the blonde one and the two were possibly talking about it he had dipped his hand in it and was blabbering on about it.

"Well," Carter's voice sounded hesitant.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She stammered, "I mean, we'll be figuring it out next Saturday shouldn't we just figure it out then?"

There was something that was flickering in her eyes that Alex didn't like, something worse than guilt like anticipation. But even when he was trying to figure out was behind her big never-changing gray eyes he couldn't help getting lost in their depth.

"I just have a bad feeling in my gut." she said.

He sighed, "You have a point. I guess so."

She smiled, "Thanks,"

He put the binoculars back up to his eyes and looked at the man that was talking to mister smoker. He wasn't too tall, maybe about 5' 11", his hair was as white as the suit that he was wearing, his skin seemed pasty and in more need of the green-gunk than the other.

"Who is that?" Alex asked, still looking at the old man. He had a cane that had a round silver ball at the top with the imprint of a scorpion on the front, _Scorpia. _The name felt disgusting in his mind.

"I don't know."

He noticed that every time Carter had spoke of Scorpia her voice was tight and that the two times she was there she seemed to have a different tone in her emotions.

They stayed for another ten minutes and finally accepted that nothing had changed. With their minds made up they started to go back to their four-wheelers, but Carter walked to his and sat on it sideways. She leaned back a little, planting the palms of her hands planted behind her.

"What?" Alex asked, coming close to her and not expecting her next movement.

Carter licked her lips and brought her legs up, wrapping them around his hips. Alex practically stumbled forward, stabling himself by putting his hands near her hips on the four-wheeler.

"I sorry," she sounded like a four-year-old who had their hand caught in the cookie jar.

"For what?" he almost yelled when his voice croaked.

"The Gavin thing." she rolled her eyes, "I shouldn't have overreacted like that."

He leaned forward to where their faces were barely an inch apart. He was tired of the tease she provoked, maybe she would come to her senses and respond the way he wanted her to.

"You meant that?" he could feel her breath on him, it was heavy and sweet and somehow tempting.

She leaned up and put her hands on the side of his face, whispering, "Not even a little." she shoved him off and flipped off the four-wheeler in a steady movement. With a mischievous smile planted on her red lips she hopped on her ride and started the engine.

Alex sucked in air and got on the four-wheeler, trying to not show any of the emotion that he was feeling.

It seemed that with the ball not far away he was finally realizing what was happening. People were looking at Carter, and not exactly the kind of looks that he wanted them to. People--Amy--were looking at him. It seemed that this ball was finally waking him up. But to more than just noticing things. It was waking him up to love again, to not be afraid to care again.

Unaware of what was going through his mind, Carter laughed as they raced all the way back to the Power Point Academy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A young man of twenty-years-old opened his eyes to find himself breathing into an oxygen mask.

He looked around to see where he was to find he was strapped onto a metal table with several metal straps holding him down to where he couldn't even turn his head.

He moved his eyes around edgily, his breathing was getting harder and heavier as he saw what he could of his surroundings.

The light above him was groggy and unformed. Then it seemed to splay out in rays across the ceiling that seemed to cave in like a circle. Then he realized that the ceiling was actually a container--that he was in?!

It was a cylinder that they had set him in with wires and tubes around it and around him.

"Hello?" his words were muffled under the oxygen mask, "Hello?"

There was a muffle of voices around him and suddenly the cylinder was lifting with him. Instead of laying flat as he had it was lifting him as straight as an arrow, it was as if he were being crucified.

He heard the voices again and finally saw who was speaking.

It was two men, one with a white suit and the second was in a black jacket and possibly jeans. But there was a third one. It was a woman with a petite body that looked like she was possibly 5' 2" and had dark hair.

The man with the black shirt seemed to put his hand on the woman's face and she slapped him away.

Then loudly a speaker went off saying in a blank computerized voice, "Transmission beginning in 10...9...8...7..."

The man didn't know what was happening. He didn't remember anything! The last thing besides the blurry scene of deformed people through glass was him firing a gun on the field of war in Afghanistan.

Then suddenly a bubbling sound came at his feet. It was slow but began bubbling toward him. As it touched his feet it sent a sense of hot and cold, static and numbness. His skin went cold and hard and he wanted to scream but couldn't find his voice.

"…5...4...3..."

It began to get higher in the cylinder. It finally reached his waist and the entire lower part of his body was paralyzed.

"No!" he finally yelled, "No!"

Suddenly he felt the air from the oxygen mask stop coming through, his heart was pounding in his chest, his pulse was racing, and his mind was yelling along with his voice.

There was a rope connected to his ankle and as he looked down at it he saw that all the metal the liquid touched was melting and turning into lithium.

Finally the liquid reached his neck, "NO!!!"

The mask popped off and the liquid went over his head. He yelled with all his might. The liquid got in his nose and mouth and he began to choke on it.

Precious air bubbles erupted from his mouth and he tried to move. But he couldn't feel himself. Then suddenly his eyes were filled with the liquid and his head felt cold. The straps that were on his body finally drifted and turned in the same lithium as the other. He tried to scream again but the liquid was completely in his system. His lungs screamed with mercy as a burning sensation went through him but suddenly his hands and feet stopped moving and his body ceased all bodily reactions.

If the three people outside the cylinder hadn't known what was happening others might have suspected he was dead.

The heart monitor had stopped beeping but slowly began to come back with a steady beat.

Max Grendel smiled and whispered in a voice that wasn't in his, "It is done."

On Sunday morning at six in the morning, The experiment--twenty-year-old Travis Hunt--opened his eyes.

When he was put in the cylinder he was tall with brown hair that came to his chin. His eyes had been a gorgeous sky-blue that looked transparent and had caught the attention of many.

But something happened to him. Travis Hunt was no more.

His hair was burned until it seemed he had buzz-cut and it had changed to a bright white color. His skin was like marble and pale.

Hunt opened his eyes. They were glowing neon green.

"Invincible Soldier has been completed."


	12. The Ball

Hey guys! I am sooooooo sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, I've been trying to get it perfect so that you will like it and still read the story to the ending. There's only two chapters left, maybe one, and the story will conclude. Thank you so much for staying this long with me and the story. Hope this chapter goes with everything you hoped would happen. Xoxo, Millie.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The days were ticking by so fast that every second was like an entire day, every precious moment was going through Alex's hands like sand slipping through his fingers. The final days were like a countdown for when he and Carter would finally go their separate ways. He back to London and she back to California.

The day present was Friday, the week was over. Tomorrow would be the ball. One more day until the greatest thing in the school. Three more days until the worst thing would happen to him. The thought was going through his mind as he waited for Carter, Tyler, and Ed to come to their usual lunch spot in the cafeteria--Jay, Dawnsey and Chace were already there.

"Hey baby," the silky, gilded voice of Amy Diputs, his unfortunate date that had landed on him like one of the plagues of Egypt, echoed in his ear as her lips brushed them. Her hands were on his shoulders, then she wrapped her arms around them locking them each an inch above her wrist.

"Hey A," he kept his hands in his pockets. He didn't like Amy. Not as a girl, not as a person, not as a human, not as anything. She had been the one to ask him to the ball--not vice versa--and he had agreed for one reason: to avoid suspicion. The less that they had of it the more likely they could finish the mission without questions and be able to leave for their "last minute transfers". But even though she was his date and supposed public-girlfriend he wouldn't, he _refused, _to show any sign of actually "caring" for her.

She put her chin on his shoulder and quietly whispered so only he could hear, "You're gonna have to do better than that…or I let it slip."

Alex took the witch's warning seriously. He raised his hands and took hers in his, holding them close to his chest and kissing the back of them.

Last Saturday when Carter and he had gone to scout the warehouses for any security differences they had taken two four-wheelers she had found earlier in the week. When they had come back they had found something unexpected and hurtful to the eyes: Amy.

He could still remember it as his lips touched the cold skin of her hands.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Still somewhat weary from sneaking about, Alex had raced Carter back on the four-wheelers. Carter--laughing more than Alex had ever heard her laugh before, but still laced with the guilt he had heard before--had beaten him there. But something besides the guilt caught his attention, Carter had been laughing but it sounded as if it was to cover something. When she looked at him he could swear the guilt he had heard in her laugh was tinged in her deep gray pools of eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked over the hum of the two small motors. She looked at him as she began to answer, they were slowing down because the garage for the vehicles was about fifty feet away, when she slammed on the brakes and yelled, "AW, DANG IT!"

Alex almost cussed when he saw why she stopped. Amy--antagonizing, gorgeous, torturous, painful Amy--was standing in front of the garage with her arms crossed and foot tapping. Her blonde hair was blowing in the wind like a veil and her blue eyes were sparkling in the light. She was wearing a black light sweater with a short pink skirt and black thigh-high boots.

"We're done for," Alex whispered to Carter.

"Not necessarily." she said.

They stopped the four wheelers close to Amy, shut them off, and got ready to face the wrath of Elle Woods.

_Three…two…one…_

"What the heck are you guys doing?!" she yelled.

Carter rolled her eyes and threw her keys at Amy, "Park it. Thanks."

Amy slapped them away and grabbed her arm, "No, you b--"

"Hands off!" Carter shoved her before Amy could finish.

"Hey!" Alex stepped in, grabbing Carter's arm with one hand and her hand with the other.

The rage behind Amy's teal eyes was unmistakable, "Garrett, you and Miss Short-stick here are gonna explain what the heck is going on."

"We don't have anything to say to you." Carter snapped.

"Was I talking to you?" Amy put her finger on Carter's nose, "No." she pushed it like a button and it set Carter off.

"Oh, heck no! That is it!" Carter started shaking she was getting mad quick, "I have put up with you all month long with you're stupid--"

"Blah, blah, blah," Amy opened and closed her hand like the mouth of a duck, "I don't care,"

Alex squeezed Carter's arm hand gently when she began to fire back and shut her up.

"Garrett, what's going on?" Amy demanded.

Alex was biting his lip anxiously when she asked him, but her couldn't tell her. Not so close to the end of the mission. They couldn't blow their cover nor.

"Amy," he made his voice as soft as possible, "we can't tell you."

Carter made her smart-aleck head cock at his words. Amy put her hands on her hips and sucked in air, "Well," her voice was shaking from where she was trying to not scream, "won't Dena Joust just love to hear this?"

She turned and began walking back to the school.

"Dang," Carter ran her fingers through her black, purple and pink highlighted hair, "You were right,"

"No," he put his finger under her chin, "you were."

He unwillingly let her go and ran towards the angry blonde, "Amy,"

She turned around to him and rolled her big blue eyes, "Oh so you can tell me now?"

"No," he shook his head, "why are you gonna tell Joust?"

"Why? Because my date is running around with my roommate in the middle of the night and stealing the four-wheelers that are not their property."

"Amy, what's your problem?" he finally burst, "So what if I'm with Silver--I knew her before you!"

She smiled, "I know; that's exactly why you're _both _getting busted."

"Amy, no!"

She laughed, "Amy yes. I don't do Nerd-Herd Leader begging."

_No, no, no, NO! _"What can I do to make you stop?"

She lifted one perfectly waxed eyebrow, "I can't believe you're actually doing the Nerd-Herd Leader begging."

"No," he exclaimed. He quickly tried to think of how to stop her, how to make her zip her lips and not spill anything to Joust. He found it, "I'm not asking for mercy, I want a deal."

She scoffed, " a deal?"

"Yeah,"

"What kind of deal?"

"Don't tell Joust anything and…I do whatever one thing you tell me to."

She rolled her eyes, "Of course,

"Here's the deal: I zip my pretty lips if you"--she put her arms around his neck, he didn't move--"Respond and act like a totally in love boyfriend."

"What?" he began pulling away.

"Do it," she kept a firm grip, "or Dean Joust gets the info about the three sneak out sessions you and Silver shortie over there have had."

Alex could feel Carter's eyes piercing him in the back; she had gotten hurt from the last decision he thought was good, how would she react to this?

Something hard hit him in the back and bounced off him.

"Ouch," he turned around to see Carter bouncing small stones in her hand and one near his foot.

"Hey! Do you mind?!" Amy threw her words like a sharp dagger at Carter. Carter looked at Alex and gave a quick stiff nod. _Yes? _That's what her movement said, a sturdy sure yes. But her eyes, her gorgeous gray eyes pleaded _no. _

"Well?" Amy grabbed his chin and jerked him back to her.

He felt a tug on his heart. Act like her boyfriend? Kiss and hug her, say things like "baby" to her? Lie in front of everyone? (_You're already doing that, stupid. _His conscious reminded him). His feelings for Carter for real, there was no doubt about the fuzzy feeling in his stomach when he was around her. How could he pretend to be that with Amy?

"Garrett!"

Alex snapped back into reality. _Just do it. Just one more week. _

"Fine," he said in blandly.

"Deal?" she pulled herself closer.

"Deal." he began to pull away when she said, "Usually things are sealed with a mark or handshake or whatever," she put her arms tighter around his neck, "but I seal things with a kiss."

She brought her face to his.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex shook his head as the memory reached there.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Amy asked.

He kissed her arm, "Nothing, babe." Every time he touched her it hurt him like some kind of health hazard.

He looked at Jay--who was smiling at him and mouthing, "Finally!"--then over at Chace and Dawnsey--Chace, who had his arm around Dawnsey mouthed, "Good. Just relax.". Dawnsey on the other hand was not happy. Her red lips were taught, her blonde eyebrows furrowed and her green eyes raging. She mouthed one word, "Traitor," Alex almost flinched from her reaction.

Suddenly, Tyler came running into the cafeteria--that day was free dress day, so everyone was wearing normal clothes that didn't have the uniform symbol or anything. Ty and Chace were wearing brown sweaters and dark jeans, Jay had a blue Abercrombie hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath it with gray-black jeans, Dawnsey had on a wool dress that reached her knees, Amy had on a red tight see-through sweater with white skinny jeans and black boots, and Alex had on a black light sweater with a pair of dark denim jeans, they all dressed warmly, it was the middle of January for crying out loud--he slid in by Jay and instantly began babbling, "Guess who's coming with me to the ball."

"Yo, mama." Jay smarted almost too quickly. It was like a reflex against anything.

" 'Yo, mama,'" Tyler mimicked, "No--steady yourself--Emma Nelson."

Chace and Jay burst out laughing, Alex chuckled quietly, he was still in Amy's serpentine grasp.

"Emma said yes?" Chace snorted.

"Without twitching?" Jay twitched his hand and eye jokingly.

"Shut up," he shoved him in the shoulder. Just then Carter and Ed came into the cafeteria. Even though what Amy wore was flashy, Alex couldn't keep his eyes off Carter. She was wearing a tight purple v-neck shirt that had half sleeves, baggy black pants that had a chain on the pocket, and black Converse tennis-shoes.

"Silver! Ed!" Dawnsey waved.

Amy rolled her eyes and said, "I'll see you later, babe," she kissed him and left.

Carter was coming toward them, smiling and blushing, when Gavin Taylor jumped from his seat, grabbed her by the waist with one arm and began kissing her in front of the whole school. His hand went down her back and he bent her with him, slowly sliding his hand past her lower back and grabbing her butt. Alex felt the fury boil inside him and was ready to burst like volcano.

Gavin dragged his lips off her when the students began yelling, "Nice!" "That was hawt!"

Carter blushed even more as she walked away and toward their table. She sat beside Alex, who wanted to burst, and pointed at Tyler saying, "You owe me fifty bucks,"

"But--"

"You made the bet," she smiled as she extended her hand, "pay up."

Ty rolled his eyes and grumbled as he found his wallet and gave her a fifty-dollar bill.

"Thank you," she said flashing the smiled of a seductive goddess.

"Whatever," Tyler mumbled.

"You're still going with him to the ball?" Alex asked bluntly, he was gripping the metal rims underneath the table to control his anger.

"Yeah," Carter swung one leg over the bench that they sat on and looked at him with a curious head cock, like one a puppy might give when it sees or hears something new, "What's it to you?"

Those four words rung in Alex's ears as his five other friends got quiet. They had known about the feelings Alex and Carter possibly shared, had teased them about it and had even tried to get them to go together to the ball. All of their plans had been ruined when Amy asked out Alex and Gavin asked out Carter.

"Nothing," he said lowly, "Just…curious."

Carter shrugged and swung over her other leg, "I'm hungry, I'm getting something to eat--unlike Dawn."

"Hey," Dawnsey said with a smile, "I wanna fit into my dress."

"Babe," Chace put his hand on her face, "You could go in a potato sack and still be the most beautiful girl there."

Carter and Jay made a retching sound as he kissed her cheek, Carter said, "I really didn't realize I was in _The Notebook Remix _Movie." she made high-pitched gasp sound and laughed as she went to get her lunch.

They all laughed as Dawnsey stuck out her tongue and settled into Chace's arms gently. Alex laughed quietly and said, "I'm going with her." he got up from his seat, but didn't leave before Dawnsey said, "Of course! Wherever Silver goes Garrett must follow."

"It's like the _Adventures of Milo and Otis _but with people!" Jay exclaimed.

Alex smiled and rolled his eyes as they continued to tease him.

He walked up to the Lunch line and stood behind Carter, he didn't say anything to make her turn around and look at him. Her dark hair was tossed over her right shoulder exposing the flesh of the left side of her neck. Near her ear was a small circle, it looked like a bruise but also like a third-degree burn scar. He hadn't stared at it for two seconds when he sharply said, "He gave you a hickie." his words weren't a question, it was a statement.

Carter's smile died down and she flipped her hair evenly onto the left shoulder.

"So?" she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "I'm with him."

"Car--Silver, what're you doing?" he said with gritted teeth.

"Silver Massey, a reckless student who got arrested and sent to the Power Point Academy by her parents and will magically transfer to a school in America for the final weeks of school.

"Silver, I'm serious. We have tomorrow and it's over. The mission's complete, MI6 and CIA get their wishes and we're gone. What're you doing with Taylor?"

"What're you doing with Stupid?"

"I'm not doing anything with Stupid--Diputs! You were there, the deal was sealed and until tomorrow I'm acting like this. But you're doing this freely!"

"We were given free will right? So sorry that I'm using mine, Rider.

"I'm not like you I'm not gonna hide underneath the sheets because the boogie monster may come out from under the bed and eat you--I'm getting this head on."

"So you can do it but I can't?"

"Taylor is stupid, okay? He can't tell left from right, purple from white or even a five year-old from a fifteen-year-old. Amy is a straight out hag who manipulates people and twists them to do her bidding."

"What's the difference?" Alex snapped.

"The difference: I have Curly, you have Cruella."

They had been moving slowly in the line and finally their turn to grab trays and food had come. As Carter grabbed an orange and blue tray Alex finally snapped in his mind as his conscious chastised him, _Just ask her! Stop being an idiot! You've liked her ever since she blew in your ear when you were both on the airplane, you know how you feel! Just do it!_

"Carter," he said softly.

Carter's head turned to him and suddenly he could see that remorse he had been seeing in her eyes once again. This time it was so much that there seemed to be nothing else but that.

"Alex," she sighed, "I'll see you tomorrow night." she put the tray back with the rest, patted his shoulder gently--her hands were shaking and were skimmed with wetness, her fingers dug into his shoulder as if she were begging for forgiveness--and she left.

Alex's knees were about to buckle underneath him had Tyler not come up and asked, "What was that about?"

Alex gripped his tray as he saw Carter go to Gavin, hold his hand, and walk out with him.

"Nothing," he mumbled, "I was just asking her a question."

"And?"

"And she answered it."

"Garrett," Tyler grabbed a tray as well, "look no matter how many times you're telling us she's not your type, that you don't like her and nothing's going on, we know you're lying to us as much as you're lying to yourself. Why didn't you just ask--"

"Didn't you eat before you came into the cafeteria with Ed and her?"

"Yeah but I'm still hungry--don't interrupt. Why didn't you just ask her when you had the chance?"

Alex grabbed a sandwich and a bag of Lays chips and put it on his tray, "I don't know." he grabbed a can of brown pop, pulled out his money and paid the cashier, "But I'm not through with her."

"Garrett, you have to be." Tyler grabbed two sandwiches, two bags of chips, a coke, a water and paid, "The ball's tomorrow. Taylor's taking her and you're taking Amy."

"I know. But I have to do something."

"For what? The school year's almost over, you guys aren't gonna see each other ever again unless her and your parents are planning on sending you back here."

"I don't know why, but…you know those past few times me and her have snuck out to talk?"

"Yeah you wouldn't tell us heck about it."

"Every time we went out she had this look about her, like she's hiding something. I never liked it. I really like her and I don't want to see that look on her again. I'm just gonna have to figure it out. Tomorrow night."

They began walking back to their seats when they both saw that Dawnsey wasn't there anymore--in fact not one girl _at all _was in the cafeteria, except for the cafeteria lady who really wasn't capable of being noticed as a woman…or man. She--or he--could've passed for either.

"Where did?…" Alex faded off his question as Chace answered.

"Mansion."

"What're they doing there?"

"The day before the ball all the guys and girls go there to choose a specific room to get ready in."

"What'd you mean?"

"It's like a dressing room," Jay explained, "There's forty something rooms in the mansion and all of the girls are separated into six to ten groups. They choose a room and that's where they'll get ready for the ball."

"Same thing for the guys." Tyler interjected.

"Why didn't we?…"

"We go after them." Chace said, "Joust's wife wants it that way."

Alex put his tray down and unwrapped the sandwich from the plastic. He took a big bite from the food and chewed slowly.

The other four boys were talking intently about a football game that had come on TV, Dallas Cowboys vs. The New York Giants, apparently the Giants had beat the Cowboys with absolutely no problem, but Alex wasn't hearing the conversation. He was thinking about what he could do the next night.

Would it really be worth telling her anything? Maybe he should just let it go, they wouldn't see each other ever again.

"Oh dude," Tyler was talking to him again only then was he paying attention, "some guy came to the dorm this morning while you were still asleep, he dropped this off and I forgot about till now. Sorry." he handed him a folded piece of paper.

Alex took a quick bite and put down the sandwich, taking the paper from Ty's hand. His throat tightened as he read it. _Not again!_

You're countdown is forty hours. Give up the mission and leave. Scorpia over you has the most power. If you don't your friends and family will grieve.

-----Black Magician

He quickly and quietly tore up the note before they could ask him about it.

He did not need this crap now. Not now.

Scorpia knew they were going to win this time, it was just too obvious. Alex had taken them down twice, why not a third time?

Remembering the first five words he checked his watch. Twelve forty-five.

"Tyler," he asked, "when did they give you that note?"

With a full mouth Tyler mumbled, "Seven," it sounded more like "Sh-ven" but Alex got it.

Forty hours from seven a.m. that would be…eleven tomorrow night. Why would they threaten him when Scorpia would possibly be down by then? The ball was at seven p.m. he and Carter were leaving it at around eight, they were finding the main source of power, jacking it and blowing the places to kingdom come. If they had known exactly what they were doing, which is what they seemed to be hinting at, they wouldn't have sent anything like this, they wouldn't have threatened to kill him at eleven.

He shoved the ripped pieces into his pocket and continued eating.

"So what was it?" Tyler asked, opening his second sandwich.

"Dude! Breathe while you eat!" Jay blurted at him.

Tyler rolled his eyes and looked at Alex.

"Advertisement." Alex said the word coolly.

"Just an ad?"

"Yeah, it was about some new watch thing. Really stupid. I think the guy meant it for all of us, not just for me."

"Sure sounded like he meant you. I didn't like that guy anyway. Creepy."

Alex tried to chew calmly as he asked, "Describe creepy."

"Blonde hair, leather jacket, dark eyes, at least 6' 3" and he was smoking. He just said, 'Give this to Losten,' and left."

_Blonde smoker dude. _That was the name Carter had given him. _If he came into the actual school grounds, Scorpia's either brave, stupid…or really wanting to kill me. _

"I guess that can be creepy." Alex took a big gulp of brown pop before finishing off the sandwich.

All the girls from the school came back into cafeteria. They were giggling and laughing loudly, talking and jumping. One actually jumped in the air to do a back flip.

"Why do they get so excited about the ball?" Tyler asked mainly to himself.

"Just organized movement on the floor." Alex said, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Exactly!"

Carter and Dawnsey came back, their arms hooked together and they were blabbering on about something. Alex thought it was dresses…but did dresses have curtains?

"Come on, boys!" Eva Joust's voice was ringing in the cafeteria, "Your turn to choose!"

Alex had finished in time so he got up and threw away the trash, so had Jay, Ed, and Chace. Tyler was stuffing the last bits of food in his mouth and shoved an unopened bag of Doritos into his pocket. He bounced the bottle of water in his hand and they all left the cafeteria.

"Why exactly are we doing this in the mansion?" Alex asked as he kept up with Tyler, who took large strides with his long legs.

He shrugged, "I don't know."

"It's 'cause it's a charity ball." Jay intervened, "CEO's and Presidents of companies and corporations come and they don't want to show the piece of crap that we actually have to stay in."

"What he said," Tyler laughed.

The wind was blowing pretty swiftly, Alex's black hair looked like a nest by the time it stopped. He had never grown it this long before, it was almost covering his eyes and two inches below his ears. He shook his head and tried to get it back to normal as the wind stopped and something slapped him in the face. He snatched it from his face and gripped it in his hand. It was a quick reaction that no one noticed.

He opened his hand and found the dark blue petal of a rose.

"Ever seen a blue rose?" he asked Tyler and Jay.

"There's no such thing." Jay said.

"Look." he handed them the petal.

Jay looked at it and said, "Huh. What'd you know? The Jousts have actual mutated stuff in the backyard besides themselves."

Alex shook his head and laughed.

They went into the mansion by the back way, passing the den with the bear rug.

"This way!" Eva's voice bounced in the house like an annoying echo.

They passed the ballet-floor-piano-room--Alex hadn't found a better name for it--and went up the ivory stairs with its vine-wrapped rail.

Choosing a room wasn't hard. Jay, Tyler, Chace, Ed, and he had found one at the top floor where all the boys were supposed to change at. Eva had put four other guys with them--Eric Knight, Jon Signer, Jack Mercy, and Heath Johnson. Erin Johnson was Heath's sister, whom Ed was going out with.

They put their names on a piece of blue paper and taped it to the door.

"There," Chace said as he got it up, "that should make them happy."

The two guards that the school had had apparently gotten into their dorm because one of them came up to them with at least eighteen suit bags in his arm and, handing each of them their own, said, "Losten. Kingston. Bearing. Skills. And Smith."

They each checked their suits and put them inside the room. Knight, Mercy, and Johnson got theirs too and put it on chairs inside.

They got out before the others, racing down the stairways.

Alex gladly ran with them. His twenty hours were counting down. The day was slipping by too fast.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was three in the morning, the moon was bright, it was cold outside and the ground was frosted from the cold.

She was grabbing her stomach. She had come down from her small bedroom and outside. She had walked around before a pain snaked itself into her stomach and she fell on her knees.

She leaned her head to the ground near her knees and continued to hold herself together, as if she would fall apart into two pieces. Tears were streaming down her blazing cheeks and she could barely breathe through her sobbing.

_I can't…I can't…no…please no! _The thoughts raced through her head as she cried through the pain of sorrow she felt. She couldn't do this. She had made a deal but she couldn't go through with it.

She shivered in the frosted grass as her bare legs and arms touched it.

Her phone vibrated in her pajama shorts pocket. Slowly she pushed her hair out of her face and opened it.

She didn't say anything when a man's voice roared on the other end, "Pull yourself together, magic!"

It was Geiger's assistant. He wasn't happy.

"Leave…" she had to gasp between her words she was crying so hard, "me alone. I'm-I'm doing it! I'm…completing your wishes…Just leave me alone!" she snapped the phone shut and threw it ahead of her.

She held herself and rolled into a ball, bringing her knees up to her forehead and looking like a baby in the picture of a sonogram.

"Leave me alone…"

She continued to cry into the night. The pain of her doings was stabbing her like a million cold knives, her heart was the one that was stabbing them.

"I love…I can't…"

The pain kept battering her into the night, making her heart squeeze and making her throat tighten.

In five hours he would wake up, eleven hours after that she would dance with him, three hours after that…she would kill him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

BRRRRING!

Alex almost fell off his bed as he threw his pillow at Ed's alarm clock, he held himself by his arm onto the rail and grasped the top part of the mattress.

"Ed! Turn that stupid thing off!" he finally yelled as he settled back into his covers.

"Give me a second, ya grouch!" he snapped back.

The alarm clock finally shut off and Alex ducked under his covers.

"Yo G, wake up!" Tyler shouted, throwing something heavy and hard at him.

He threw off the covers for a second time to see the object--a shoe--Ty had thrown. He grabbed it and threw it back.

"Why don't you get out of bed first, smart-butt." Alex snapped.

" 'Cause I'm waiting for you." Tyler rolled onto his side and was still.

Alex tried to go back to sleep, but all of Tyler's yelling had woken him up and suddenly he remembered what day it was.

_The ball! _The thought made him jump up and hit his head on the ceiling. "Yow!" he covered his head and crouched down.

"What was that?" Jay mumbled from his bottom bunk. Alex looked down at him to see his long limbs sprawled all around the bed.

"Amy's knocking at the door," Alex retorted.

"Hmm," Jay answered sleepily.

Alex shook his head irritated and began to climb down the metal ladder that was connected to the side of the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and walked sleepily to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and then looked in the mirror and back at Tyler, who was about to drool on his pillow.

He rinsed out his mouth and dried his lips with the towel that was on the wall and smiled to himself.

Quietly he walked out of the bathroom and went to Tyler's bed. Like any of them would wake up. He climbed up ladder and extended himself as far as possible until he was at Ty's ear. He was snoring lightly but was definitely asleep.

"WAKE UP!!!" Alex yelled at the top of his lungs, his throat was hurting he had yelled it so loud.

Tyler jumped up with a jerk and hit the ceiling really hard, then he yelled at Alex, "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!?"

Alex jumped off the ladder laughing at the top of his lungs, he coughed it was so hard. He could feel the blood rushing to his face.

Jay and Ed were awake now to, Jay had fallen off the bed and Ed was sitting at the side with a hand on his head, "And you were complaining about the _alarm clock_."

Alex went to the closet and grabbed some clothes, "At least you guys are awake." he went into the bathroom, undressed and stepped into the shower.

As he put the shampoo in his hair he began hearing Tyler talked to someone, but with the sound of the shower and with the door closed he couldn't make out a word he was saying, he could only tell that he was talking to a girl. He decided he would ask when he got out.

After ten minutes someone started banging on the door, "Hurry up! You're taking as long as a girl!" It was Jay.

Alex had just finished, he rolled his eyes and shut off the water.

Drying quickly he slipped on his clothes and walked out, "Happy?" he asked raising his hands.

Jay sniffed the air, "At least you don't stink anymore."

Alex shoved him in the shoulder as he ran into the bathroom with his clothes.

He went over to his bed and began putting on some socks, "Who came into the room?" he asked Tyler.

"What?" Tyler was slipping on a red that had cream letters that read Hollister Co.

"I thought I heard a girl in here." Alex loosened the strings of his Converse tennis shoes and slipped his foot through it.

"Yeah, it was Silver."

"What'd she want?" he tied the strings into a quick bow.

"She just wanted to know if we were awake. They need some help setting up that ball room in the mansion.

"But she didn't look too good."

"What'd you mean?" he slipped on the other shoe.

"Like she didn't look…I don't know. She was like just kind of mopey. Not Smart-face Silver."

"Oh," Alex put his head down so that Tyler wouldn't see his confused face. Mopey? Carter? For once Tyler made sense in her attitude.

"Hey when you're done"--Tyler hadn't stopped talking--"we should go ahead and head to the mansion."

"What about Jay and Ed?"

"I'll wait for Jay," Ed said quietly.

"You sure?" Alex asked, standing up from the bed.

"Yeah I'm sure."

"Alright then," Alex grabbed the iPod laser and stuffed it in his pocket and slipped on the black sunglasses that Smithers gave him.

"Let's go," he nodded toward the door.

Tyler walked past him and out the door.

"Later!" Ty called to Ed and Jay.

Ed just waved, picked up a book and began to read it quickly, his eyes scanning the letters as if he were just skimming them. The kid was smart.

They raced down the stairs to find other guys, from Freshman to Senior, walking out and coming in the doors. All of them were carrying things in their hands, decorations Alex noticed.

Before they were out the door, one of the teachers, Ms. Leila John, heaved a box that weighed at least fifty pounds into Alex's hands and one that was even heavier into Tyler's.

"Take those into the mansion," she said quickly, "Hurry, move along we only have a few hours!" She pushed past them and shoved them in the back, making them stumble forward with all the weight in their hands.

"Is it like this every year?" Alex asked as they squeezed through people on the sidewalk that led to the mansion.

"Mostly," Ty replied swinging the box over his head as two girls with a long white lace material in their hands passed by, "but it's not as bad as last year. Then they spent two whole days fixing up the place."

"Why?"

"The biggest charity thing came and they were giving them I think a donation of one million dollars, or franks or French money."

Alex looked around, "What the heck did they spend it on?"

"Plumbing, donated half to this charity that's coming tonight, and I think they spent like three hundred g's on themselves."

"How is this school still running?" Alex stepped over a fallen squashed box.

"I really don't know."

They passed a lot of students and teachers on their way, including Gavin and his friends who were helping with the heavy lifting and high things. Alex did his best to ignore him but found it almost impossible when Gavin "accidentally" jabbed his elbow into his back when his friend "pushed him back". Tyler had switched sides with him quickly when that happened and nudged him in the arm, mouthing, "Not now," Alex had only growled lowly, his emotions like black barbs raking his chest.

When they got to the mansion, they hadn't even been able to get to the ball room when two of the servant men from the mansion took the boxes from their hands and shoved them out to get more. They made several trips with these boxes, bringing them, leaving them, and gathering more. By nine thirty Jay and Ed finally came.

"What in the heck took you guys so freakin' long?!" Tyler snapped as he handed a man the box he was carrying and went out to get more. Alex was already outside about to receive another box when they came up.

"What's in all these things?" Alex asked, tilting the box around to hear what was inside.

"Fancy crap," Jay said, "like crystal cups and plates and whatnot."

Alex tipped the box to where it lay straight in his arms. He heard a small glass crack coming from inside. _Oops. _

A woman passed by and shoved another box into his arms and handed Tyler one.

"What'd we need to do?" Ed asked, "It seems that you're working without taking a direct order in any way." always count on Ed to sound smart when they were lifting heavy boxes.

"Trust me," Alex said as he walked the short distance to the mansion from the patio, "you'll get something."

"What're--?"

Suddenly a woman with bouncy blonde hair that was styled in ringlets grabbed Ed and Jay saying, "Are you two not busy? Good, I need your help with these…" the two boys didn't even get to answer before they were being forced to take tall thick dark gray pillars inside with three other boys.

"Told 'em," Alex snickered.

"Sure did,"

They heaved the boxes higher up their chests and walked to the mansion.

As the two men from before took the boxes from their hands, Alex tilted to a side to get a better look at the inside. But since it was the back he could see nothing spectacular from all the things they were heaving around. The small pillars that held up the vases at the corners of the walls were gone, the paintings were still up, the dark cream curtains had been replaced by lace white ones that seem to shimmer in the sunlight, on the black-and-white-checkered floor there was a long red rug the reached into all the directions of the house--kind of like the red carpet at a movie premiere. But as he tilted closer towards the door, Ms Leila poked her head out the door, brown curls bouncing like a pogo-stick, and said, "You'll have to wait until tonight, boys." she closed the door in their faces.

Alex turned around to Tyler with a fake confused face, "Snappy today,"

Tyler chuckled.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Around two o'clock everyone took a break, the day's lunch hour had already passed and they were all very hungry.

As the line formed in the cafeteria for food, Carter, Dawnsey and Chace met up with them.

"Where were you guys?" Jay asked, moving around in place. They were in the far part of the line and still had about fifteen minutes until they got their food.

"We had to help inside," Dawnsey said happily, we were the only three to see the decorations.

"How are they this year?" Jay asked, "Shrek and Fiona?" he jutted out his thumbs near his ears to make it appear like the DreamWorks characters.

"No, smart-face, the theme is like emo meets Palace of Mirrors. Everything's like dark but has crystal attached to it so like when the light hits it, it starts reflecting a tiny million specks."

"You're being awful silent today, Silver."

Alex could barely recognize the voice as Ed's as he asked Carter the question.

"Hmm?" Carter had her arms crossed and was looking down at the ground, when Ed talked to her she looked like she had come out of a hypnotists trance.

"You're not smarting off to us today," Jay said teasingly.

"I'm tired. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Alex could believe that. Her eyes looked droopy, looking like if she closed them she might fall sleep.

"Obviously you look like those owls outside at night," Jay put his hand into wide circles and over his eyes, perking his lips and looking very much like one of the night creatures.

"Well they look a whole lot better than you," Carter smarted.

"Oh! You gonna take that, Jay?" Chace teased.

Jay didn't even bother saying something back at her tease but instead said, "At least we know the old you's still awake."

She smiled dumbly, "Can't ever leave."

Alex found that the entire time they all talked he couldn't take his eyes off her. She didn't look good to be honest, her hands were rubbing her arms, her eyes seemed dazed and they looked deeper than normal today. Her hair was pulled in a quick pony tail and she just had on a t-shirt with a pair of dark denim skinny jeans and flip-flops. She looked rather normal compared to her usual stand-out-of-the-crowd-self. But even though she didn't look happy, he thought she looked marvelous.

"So what kept you up?" Tyler asked.

Carter's face went taut with the question, her eyes went big and she was clamping down on her teeth, "Um, I, well"--and she stuttered her words too bad, what was really going on?--"the, uh, the Late Years Hag Clan were up all night. They got stupidly excited about the ball."

"I can see that happening," Jay said, "All too clearly, right, Ty?" he nudged him in the shoulder.

"Transparently," Tyler lifted his eyebrows twice.

"Please, just please," Dawnsey rolled her eyes.

Carter's head was still looking down, Alex caught a glimpse of her eyes and saw they were deep in thought.

"Gosh, what is taking this line so long?!" Tyler bellowed, "Hey! Food is needed! Vamoose!"

Alex laughed as almost the entire student body looked back at them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Three hours later it was all finished. The Decorations were in, the tapestries hung, some of the antiques taken out, everything.

Alex had been able to sneak back into the mansion quietly and back into his favorite room.

As Alex opened the door to the ballet-floor-piano-room, he cringed at the creak it made. He slowly put it back into place and snuck into the room. He slid into the seat and slowly placed his fingers on the keys.

He played quietly as he heard some students being rushed out of the hall and into the rooms where they would start getting ready for the ball that started in a little more then two hours, heard Mrs. Joust yelling as some servants apparently brought the wrong flowers, heard some girls giggling as they left the door. What he didn't hear was the opening of the door as a girl with medium length black hair and tanned skin slipped into the room with him.

"Hey,"

Alex hadn't been looking up or expecting Carter's voice to ring around him. He hit three sour keys on the piano as she spoke.

She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head, "Did I scare you, Rider?" she asked teasingly.

He exhaled and shook his head, but then mixed in the nod that was true.

She looked a lot better now. The dazed look in her eyes was gone, they didn't look droopy or tired anymore.

"Feel better?" he asked. He kept on playing. He was playing the in the Debussy song _Clair De Lune. _

"Yeah, Dawnsey convinced me to take a nap and"--she sighed--"it helped a lot."

"Looks like it.

"I was afraid maybe MI6 or CIA had called with not-so-good news."

"Why not-so-good?" she walked toward him slowly.

"When is their news ever slightly good?"

"True, true."

She skimmed her fingertips on the top pf the shiny black piano, her slender long fingers bending as if holding an invisible orb.

"How'd you learn to play?" she asked.

"My uncle taught me." he explained, "He said everyone needed a passion, I chose piano."

"Oh," she leaned against the instrument, "how'd you get so good?"

"Practice…and a lot of mood swings."

She giggled, "Mood swings?"

"Well, when I was angry I would always play really hard on the keys. He pressed down harshly on two keys, then began to play lighter and lighter until you could only hear a soft hum, "then I'd reason with myself and get softer.

"Or I'd be happy"--he played three cheery notes of Peter Cottontail--"or sad," he played an excerpt of _Moonlight Sonata _by Beethoven, "so the mood swings really helped."

"Obviously,"

For a moment Alex though t he'd seen Carter's eyes shudder, like fear or…anticipation.

He started playing the theme song of Corpse Bride again and said, "After I learned, I began thinking that…everyone has a tune."

The anticipation left her eyes but the fear stayed, "Tune?"

"Yeah, I believe everyone's got a tune."

She finally stood beside him, "What'd you think my tune is?"

She slid in beside him, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all." he smiled, "Well…I believe it's sort of like this."

He began playing a tune on the lower keys, the melody sounded hard and impenetrable…just like her at times. They sounded angry and as his fingers looped over each other to make the mystic melody they sounded confused.

_Now. _His conscious was telling him, _Tell her now. _

Time seemed to slow as he looked back at her and not at the keys, "When I met you, you were so guarded. So diamond-like. I never thought I'd see you."

Carter's eyes were softening as he spoke, her lips gave a quiet quaver.

"You were so angry and taut. I was actually amazed by you. You were the only other person I'd known that was an agent like me. But I couldn't penetrate the wall that was guarding you, it was like iron.

"But then we came here"--he made his fingers slip higher up, hitting the high-pitched notes making the mystic melody sound icy and magical, light and free, it was slow but not too slow. It sounded beautiful. He hadn't known he could play like that--"And I began to know you…I found you…"

With his right hand still playing soprano on the piano, he lifted his left hand and cupped the side of her face. Carter closed her eyes and seemed to melt at his touch.

"I penetrated that iron wall and found you…" with his finger he moved a strand of her now loose hair, she opened her eyes to look at him. She was looking edgily at his features, her gray eyes brighter than ever, "…and you were everything I thought you were. Gentle, but still steel. You're innocent, sweet…caring…you're gorgeous…inside…and out." he lifted his right hand from the piano and placed it on the other side of her face.

"And…I…" he pulled himself closer to her, she didn't jerk away, she didn't push him, instead she put her hand on his arm and drew him closer.

"Alex…" her voice was an airy whisper, "I…"

"I fell for you."

His lips brushed hers he was so close. He could feel how soft they were, how warm they were. He could smell the sweet scent of her breath as she breathed deeply.

"Alex…" she tried to speak, "I--we can't--"

"knock, knock."

Alex and Carter jerked their heads to the door. Tyler was leaning against it with a smile on his face, "Am I interrupting anything?"

Alex wanted to jump up and shut the door in his face. Why of all times now?!

Carter brought her hand up and lowered one of his, which made him instantly drop the other.

She was still looking at his features edgily. Her eyes still bright and her lips quavering still.

"I have to go get ready," she whispered.

She put his hand on the bench and got up.

Without looking back she walked past Tyler and out the door.

Alex groaned and put head to the keys, making them sound oddly.

"What exactly was happening in here?" Tyler asked.

"Something that should've happened a long time ago."

Alex got up and went past Tyler and out the door.

Fifteen minutes had past with his time with Carter, he had an hour and forty-five minutes and the ball would begin.

Two hours and the mission would end. In two hours he had to tell her. No matter the obstacle. She would be his.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The clock chimed as the time was seven fifty-five.

Alex was still in the room, his black hair looked like thin wires that shined as it took up the style he put it in, his suit darkened with the shadows, every part as dark as the night that had fallen outside. He was sitting on a round chair with his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together, and his eyes staring down at the ground--deep in thought.

Tyler, Jay, and Ed had already left. Jay's date, Lacy Turner from the Suit Warehouse Place, had met him here at the school. She was wearing a sleeveless pink silk dress that reached her knees and cut off at the top of her breast. Her long brown hair was dangling along her shoulders in shiny cork screw curls, her cheeks were sparkling in the light from some glitter and her lips had been shaded light pink. Jay had asked out a beautiful girl.

Tyler and Ed went to their own dates dorms to pick them up and escort them to the mansion, Alex didn't know how they looked, he had lingered in the dorm to think. But that had been over and hour ago. His gut was telling him he had to leave now, he was already late and needed to take in his hand as much as the time he had left as possible.

He stood up and looked in the mirror that was beside him.

He wasn't Alex Rider. His eyes held some emotion that seemed to belong to someone else, but not him. Was it the emotion that was barbing his chest? Like black thorns squeezing around his heart?

He balled his hand into a fist as the thorns of his emotions buried themselves deeper in him, trying to take over him. Should he let them? Could he allow them? Everything he had tried to keep to himself had almost come out of him two hours ago. Everything he knew was wrong, was forbidden, was trying to claw itself out of him. He had sworn to himself to not get close to someone in a mission ever again, look what had happened last time. It had broke him from so much. His vow to himself was being broken just as he had, only the one breaking it was himself.

A loud knocking came at the door, it was so fast it sounded like a drum and it didn't stop so it sounded like a drum roll.

He walked to the door in three long strides and opened the door. It was Amy.

She was leaning against the frame of the door with her arms crossed and her hip popped.

"It's eight o'clock," she said, "you were supposed to pick me up at seven fifteen."

Alex rolled his eyes and got out, "We made the deal that it would be like this in front of the public--I'm _alone_."

She rolled her eyes and looped her arm into his, "Whatever! Let's just go."

Amy was wearing a dark pink dress that had silver beading around the low neckline and a split that came up to her thigh. She had a silver silk wrap dangling from her arms, her hair was up in curls that straightened out in the ends, her eye shadow was dark red and her lips pure crimson.

They walked down the ivory staircase to see more than thirty people below talking. They were all the students in formal dresses and tuxedos. At least twenty five of them turned their heads to see Amy and him coming down the stairs.

Amy walked closer to him to where she was touching him with her entire body, she raised her eyebrows and whispered in his ear, "You're acting must be doing good tonight."

"It'll only last for a couple of minutes." he smiled at her.

Her eyes furrowed into slits that said, _you're embarrassing me!_

They reached the end of the staircase and turned the corner. This was a part of the house Alex had never been in.

It was a large hall with a mirror that was at least twelve feet wide and seven feet high, it made a wall by itself, there was a table with a book and pen in front of it. A small man that had a bald head, a cigarette on the side of his mouth, and a camera around his neck was standing by the mirror.

Amy dragged Alex to the book and they signed, Amy's signature took up almost the entirety of the page.

"A memory?" the small bald man asked, holding up the camera quickly.

"Of course!" Amy squeaked.

_Why? A memory with this hag, nope. _Alex kept his thoughts to himself.

The photographer angled himself quickly, Alex and Amy smiled, and the picture was shot.

"It'll be on the table when the ball's over," the man said.

"let's go," Amy said excitedly.

The doors to the ballroom in the mansion were heavy and wooden. Before Alex could put his hand to push it, they were opened by two men in white shirts and black pants.

Alex heard Amy gasp as the inside hit them like a smack in the face.

Dangling from the high ceiling was a silver and crystal chandelier, it was so high you couldn't tell if it was floating or if it was hanging from something. From the chandelier there were long strips of transparent white silk coming down to the floor in long swirls and also went in several directions of the ceiling like long spiders.

Vines that had small crystal roses dangled on the pillars that were at the side of the room, and entwined with them were real blue roses--no doubt from the Joust's garden.

Tables with white tablecloths and old antique drippy candles in the middle. Some kind of glitter had been sprinkled on the table like small pieces of glass. They shimmered in the candlelight like magic. They were all on the outskirts to where they left a large open space directly under the chandelier where there were already ten couples dancing. Already an up-tempo song was playing. Alex recognized the tune of the song Circus by Brittany Spears. Jack had made him listen to it way too many times for him to no know it.

"Oh my…" Amy's voice came out as a surprised whisper, "She's…gorgeous."

Alex turned around to see what Amy was talking about. He half expected her to be looking in a mirror and talk about herself, but she wasn't…and she was right.

Gavin was coming down the spiral staircase with a treasure wrapped around his arm, Carter. He was dressed in a gray suit with a blue neckline and a blue hat that made him look like a character from the fifties.

Carter…oh, how could he ever describe Carter. Her hair was pulled up, small pearls and diamonds decorated the curls in the back and made it look like an exquisite pattern. Her face was flawless, her small lips a dark crimson, her cheeks pale cream against her tanned skin, her eyelashes almost extending all the way to her eyebrows, she wore a gray eyeliner that made her eyes look like gray diamonds sparkling in the sun. Small sparkles adorned the top of her high cheekbones and small diamond studs that were in her ears sparkled almost as bright as her eyes.

She was wearing a dark blue dress that hugged her body like a loose wrapping, showing every curve and shape she had, it cut off at her feet, splaying like a fan at the bottom. The top was sleeveless, the neckline went down to the top of her breast like Lacey's, and dangling from her neck was a small necklace that had a black rose charm, in the center of the rose was a diamond that sparkled every time it hit the light.

Was this really Carter? This girl that was ascending the staircase and looking directly at him looked more fiction than real. She looked like a princess--no a goddess. How could this be the same girl he had known for over a month now, had touched, had almost kissed…how could this beauty, this goddess divine, be the one he was so in love with? How could she be one that possibly shared his feelings?

Alex felt Amy's arm drop from his and, the feeling had been so unexpected, he dragged his eyes off Carter and looked at the snobby blonde.

"Deal off," she said the two words…honestly. She stood on her toes and kissed Alex on the cheek, then walked into the ballroom with her sister and friends.

Deal off. She had said the words and Alex felt like his soul was a million balloons cut from their strings and drifting up to the sky. Had she finally understood him?

Carter and Gavin were coming toward him now, toward the ball room.

Gavin moved to where he was in between Carter and him and shoved Alex in the shoulder as they passed. Alex hardly noticed it, Carter was still looking at him. He felt her sparkling eyes dig into his soul.

The two walked past him and Alex stood there, hands in his pockets.

"What a lady!"

The small bald man stood in the corner, staring after Carter and Gavin. He knew how he felt.

He walked into the ballroom--alone--and leaned against the wall.

The time inside seemed to drift slowly by himself. He saw his friends with their dates, they had gone out to the dance floor or gone past him mouthing one word, "Amy?" Alex said, "Friends." They got the message right there.

After fifteen minutes of standing he went to the table where Chace, Dawnsey, Lacey and Jay were sitting. Tyler and Emma, Erin and Ed, were dancing.

But before he could hear anything, he heard a choking gasp sound. He looked back and saw Gavin turn green before his eyes. Gavin slapped a hand to his mouth and ran out of the room. Carter's face looked worried as her eyes followed him out, but she smiled and winked at Alex.

She actually did it, she had really slipped Gavin something and made him sick.

Alex himself was getting a strange feeling in his stomach as Carter walked toward him. Her dark blue dress shimmered like mist in the moonlight, her beauty was the beams it gave off.

"I told you," she said softly as she reached him, "don't be surprised."

"I couldn't help it." he told her, he was still leaning against the wall, "But it wasn't just his sickness that surprised me."

He looked deeply at her face. Her beauty was so silky, so dreamy, so angelic.

She took a step closer and Alex put his hand on her smooth bare arm.

"What time is it?" she asked, her words as smooth as her skin.

"Eight thirty." he said, never taking his eyes from her face.

The music stopped then and Alex turned around, his hand still on Carter's arm.

At the door stood three men and three women. One woman had long blonde hair and pale pasty skin, she wore a long cream dress with a cream fur wrap around her shoulder, the other two women wore black long dresses that dragged on the floor, one had brown hair and the other red. They each held themselves with pride that made Alex want to puke. The men held the same pride, they each wore stark black suits and each had blonde hair as bright as the sun. The power that they radiated was sickening.

"The charity CEOs," Carter whispered, "I heard they always come late. To make an entrance."

"They did that," Alex said crossly.

Eva and Joust didn't bothering getting up, the CEOs stuck their nose in the air and walked over to their long table.

After that the music continued, but the song allowed Alex to unleash the sick feeling in his stomach about the CEOs and focus on Carter. It was "Hello" by Evanescence. (this is an actual song so you can listen to it while this scene is going on, it'll give you the feel of the moment). When the piano intro came in he slid his hand down Carter's arm and took her hand.

"Would you like to dance with me?" he asked her softly.

Her eyes sparkled like a million sunlit gems as she answered smoothly, "Yes."

He leaned off the wall and led her to the floor.

They went near the center, near the spiral lace that hung from the ceiling. Alex gently put a hand on her waist and placed her hand in his, setting it over his beating heart.

Carter looked up at him but didn't smile. Her eyes seemed deep in thought. Then she opened her mouth to talk, her voice was milky, gentle, but confused, "What happened today, Alex?"

The song kept playing, Amy Lee's voice sounded like a mystical echo as she sang the lyrics.

"We helped decorate," Alex said playfully, "We helped bring in heavy boxes and slaved until--"

"No, Alex," she gripped his hand tighter, as if afraid he might disappear, "I mean what happened today in the piano room?"

Alex raised her hand to his face and kissed her curled fingers, "I showed you a side of me I've been trying to keep secret for a long time."

They barely danced as they spoke their words.

"Alex," Carter put her head down, as Alex held her hand he could feel her shaking softly, "I tried to tell you when-when Tyler came in…"

Her shaking was scaring him, the fact she was using his first name and not his last added to his fear.

"…we can't." her words came in an uncouth gasp, "We can't do this."

"Do what?" he asked her gently.

"This! We can't do this--be this! If MI6 or CIA knew--"

"They don't have to," he whispered.

He spun her slowly and brought her close to him. She was so close to him he could feel her pulse reverberating through her body, could feel and when she gave a shuddered breath. He brought his face close to hers, he was breathing deeply and so was she.

"Alex," she breathed his name, "we only have…tomorrow…then we won't--we won't be together ever again."

Right then Amy Lee sang _Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken, _but when Carter reminded him of their one more day he felt like he had shattered. The truth hurt so bad to know it.

The cello played in the song and Alex dipped Carter. He swung her around slowly back up to him, ran his hand down her thigh and leg to the crook of her knee and brought it to his hip.

"Then let's make the most of the time we have."

Carter didn't move, she kept her forehead against his, kept her hands in his, his one hand let go of her leg as the song ended, gently letting it go back to the ground

_Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping,_

_And I know that I'm still here._

_All that's left of yesterday._

The song ended and he could feel a million eyes on them. But he didn't let go of Carter, didn't stop looking at her.

A song called "Broken" by Seether and Amy Lee Martin began playing.

Carter put her hands on Alex's chest and he put both his hands on her waist. They swayed in a circle as the song played. The irony was that the song matched the moment.

Alex held carter tightly and put his cheek in her hair. _Please don't leave me, _he thought, _please don't go. _

_Because I'm broken when I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right when you're nowhere._

_You go away when you don't feel me anymore._

They kept dancing until Amy Lee sang the beginning of the second verse, then Carter grabbed his hands and said, "Come on."

He followed her as she pulled him out of the ball room. "Where're you taking me to?" he asked.

She dragged him out of the crowded hallway and into a room that was beside the ballroom. Alex could still hear _Broken _through the thin wall.

As soon as carter shut the door, Alex wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him quickly, brushing her lips his said, "I love you, Carter,"

He put his hand at the back of her head, she closed her eyes, and he kissed her. Everything he hadn't felt with Amy erupted in him. He felt the warmth of his stomach stop being warm and turn hot as coal. He kissed her hard and she kissed back with as much strength.

Carter slid her hands from his chest to his shoulder but pulled back.

Alex looked at her with a question mark definitely written on his face. But before he spoke she said, "Why didn't you tell me before, Dorkfest,"

He smiled as he recognized the nickname from when they first met. He kissed her again and didn't let her go. But she began pushing him back and he landed on the sofa behind them. Carter sat in his lap and kissed him, pulling her dress up to her thighs to have her knees on the sides of his legs. A soft moan escaped the back of his throat as he slid his hand down the small of her back, his fingers entwining on the loose silk of her dress, and pushed her so that she'd be on his side. She let out a moan also as he let his lips went from her lips to her neck to her collarbone. He wouldn't go further, that was his limit. She curled her fingers into his hair as he kissed her neck again, possibly more like a vampire. But that's what he felt like. Every time his lips were on her he savored her, she was the forbidden fruit he had waited so long to receive.

Carter slid off his suit coat and put her hands on the back of his neck. She pulled up his head back to her face and breathed, "I love you,"

He met her lips again and held her in his arms. He never wanted to let her go, never wanted to let this moment end. She was his now, not Gavin's, not Tyler's--his. This goddess divine was his, he loved her, she loved him.

"Don't leave me," Carter said, her words muffled by their kiss but the taste of them was sweet in his mouth.

"Never."

He ran his hand down her shoulder past her elbow, down her thigh and traveled back to the crook of her knee and hitched it on his hip. He kissed her collarbone again and kept his other hand on the back of her neck.

"Alex…I'm not--" Carter started softly saying something to him, but a quick-paced beeping sounded from underneath her leg.

They both froze at the sound.

Alex lifted his hand from her leg and looked at the watch that was on his wrist, nine o'clock.

It was time.

Time to end what was finally becoming wonderful and loving.

Time to face Scorpia and finish this.


	13. Worse Than Pain

Nine o'clock couldn't have rang at a different time could it? His luck couldn't have been worse that day than other day couldn't it?

After Carter and he had finally admitted their feelings they had successfully left the ball. But they were already an hour behind schedule. Alex started realizing that frighteningly he only had two hours before Scorpia's death deadline for him actually came true.

His hair was definitely not the most sharp looking thing on him, the fact his shirt was wrinkled also didn't help the stares they were both getting. Carter's patterned pearls and diamonds in her hair were…not patterned anymore and a small bruise like circle the size of a Nickel was starting to appear on the side of her neck, she sheepishly put her hand on her neck.

But the thing that definitely caught the crowd's attention wasn't the messy hair, wasn't the wrinkled clothes or the hickie--although they helped an awful lot--it was one solid thing: Alex had his arm around her waist.

They had been able to leave the mansion quickly because all of the teachers were inside the ballroom. The students hadn't even bothered to ask them where they were going, they didn't really care about them.

They didn't get a chance to say good-bye to Tyler, Ed, Jay, Chace or Dawnsey. They left without glancing back.

They raced past the mansion and to the garage that held the four-wheelers.

"Did you bring your gadgets?" Carter asked as they went down the hill to the garage.

"Yeah, I got 'em."

The camera sphere, x-ray sunglasses, and iPod were in both pockets, the brass knuckle was on his hand.

"Did you bring yours?" he helped her down as the hill sloped.

"Yep," she reached into the front of her dress and pulled out her iPod, lipstick, and camera sphere.

"How?…" Alex drifted his question.

"We girls have our ways." she smiled, "The sunglasses and dagger are on my leg."

"Nice to know," Alex smiled.

"You asked," her voice was as silky as when they had kissed.

As the garage came into view, Alex took out his iPod, started the laser, and sliced through the fresh new lock on the door. The hot beam cut through in less than millisecond.

Carter ran forward and yanked open the doors; Alex dashed inside and uncovered the four-wheelers, grabbing the keys from the wall and tossed one to Carter. She smiled as she caught them and began pulling the hem of her dress up so she could get on the vehicle easier. But finally after messing with it she grabbed her dagger and sliced away at the hem. After shearing a space she grabbed the material and jerked it off. The silk ripped smoothly and now the dress was two inches above her knees.

It was uneven and it blew strangely with the current of the wind. Her stance in the moonlight reminded him of something, but he couldn't place it in his mind.

When Carter swung her leg over and jabbed the key in the ignition, she started the four wheeler and Alex barely heard her say three words that seemed to never come out of her mouth, "I'll miss them."

Alex sat down and slowly placed the key in the ignition. He knew what she was talking about. Their friends. Chace and Dawnsey, Jay, Ty, and Ed. They would be wondering about them. They had simply disappeared from the ball--but he hoped after all that they had gone through that Carter and he wouldn't be an evanescence to them, they certainly wouldn't be to him.

As the motor rolled over he remembered the memories that had happened in this past month. He remembered when he had first gotten there and how he had seen Jay, Ed, and Tyler drool over the Late Years like dogs at the smell of bacon; he remembered how Tyler had hit on Carter and how Amy had traced her finger on Alex's jaw line; the first time he and Carter had scouted the warehouses, how they had passed their notes, how they had their fight in the dark hallway and one student had seen them. He remembered how Tyler had felt remorseful for Alex when Gavin asked out Carter, how Ed had spoken what was all too obvious to him, how Jay had taunted and teased and joked and annoyed and pranked them too many times.

"Me too," he said quietly to her.

Carter jerked her head straight and revved the engine. "Let's finish this." she said.

She raced ahead of Alex and he slammed his foot on the gas to catch up to her.

The fields were fog laced tonight, an eerie shade of gray. Alex leaned forward to see what he was doing, it was too thick. His breaths were heavy and Carter's voice sounded far away when she yelled, "You okay?"

They hadn't been riding the vehicles for ten minutes and already the fog was choking him up. His eyes were watering and his throat had an itch that--Itch? Choking? Eyes watering? This couldn't be fog. Fog doesn't do this. It makes things seem heavier but never like you're having an allergic reaction.

It took him a moment to realize that the eerie shade of gray was because there was a shadow of a tint of green. _The liquid. _he remembered the liquid from the last time they had scouted the area, the blonde-smoker man had put his hand in it and when he took it out the skin seemed to be grayish and marble.

"Carter!" he yelled. He couldn't see her anymore. "Carter!"

"What?" her voice was frighteningly close.

"Whoa!" he jerked the wheel as he realized she was beside him.

"What is it?" she asked loudly over the engines.

"Carter--the fog."

"I noticed it." she said, "It's Scorpia. We need to hurry before we're too late."

Alex nodded and pressed his foot down until it couldn't go farther. Carter rode by his side at the same speed. They were close, close to finishing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Shh!" Carter snapped as they crouched by the tree.

"My blouse tore, no one could hear that," Alex said back.

"Of course not." she said, she looked at the warehouses, poking her head from behind the tree carefully.

"Just like no one can hear this." Alex grabbed her by the waist and turned her around.

"Alex--" she squeaked his name as he grabbed her, but didn't say another word as he pressed his lips to hers.

They were behind the tree that was on the hill that overlooked the plantation like a dome. They had walked half a mile to the hill, leaving behind the four-wheelers so that no one could hear the engines.

There were more guards there than there had been last time. More patrols stood against the one door that was at the far end of the warehouses, more trucks rolled in as boxes were taken down from their tanks and taken somewhere that the sewage drain led to. The blonde-smoker man hadn't been seen though, he was no where. Carter had suggested that he was probably the assistant of the operation and was underground. That seemed to be the place where everything was going.

Carter pushed on Alex's shoulders gently, "Alex, we need to concentrate," she breathed.

"I am concentrating," he kissed her again.

"Not on the mission," she said, her words muffled.

"True,"

She giggled in his mouth and made him let go of her.

"Now come on," she said, "It's almost ten o'clock."

Alex jerked his watch to where he could see it. Nine forty-eight.

"Let's go," Carter whispered.

Alex held onto her hand as they ran down the side of the hill and fell to ground in the shadows.

A flashlight jerked above them, illuminating the place they had stood only seconds before.

"They're tighter now, huh?" Alex said, as he lay on his stomach beside Carter.

"They're up to something big," she said, "and it's obviously happening tonight."

They got up slowly and inched toward the gates that only stood ten yards away.

"I'll go first." carter whispered.

"No, you can't."

"And why not."

"Carter, please,"

"Just let me go first. Okay? I won't get caught."

Alex was still holding her hand at the moment, he gave it a tight squeeze and reluctantly let her go.

Carter flashed her smile at him and turned around. She ran to the gate like a ghost in the wind, a snake crawling around a familiar area…magic flowing through the air.

She kept her back to the wall and waited for the gates to open as a semi-truck began to enter.

_Please don't get caught, _Alex thought to himself, _please, Carter._

With a swift jump Carter got behind the truck, she grasped onto the back before it could get through and began to climb underneath it.

By the time the truck passed the gates and was inside, Carter was out of view, safely underneath the truck. Possibly clinging to the machinery but safe otherwise.

But Alex couldn't do that. Carter was 5' 2" and slim, she could fit into small areas like a child into a play area; Alex was 5' 9" with a muscular body, he wouldn't be able to climb behind a truck without getting caught.

Instead of running toward the gates, he ran to the wall. He kept his back against it as he slithered to the back parts of the warehouses where there was no light and less patrols, but also there were no doors.

Alex pressed down on the brass knuckle for three seconds and allowed the spikes to pop out smoothly, like claws out of a cat. He jerked it into the metal wall and cut a small hole the size of an apple. He looked through the hole and saw what he could. The wall was directly behind a warehouse, there was perhaps three feet of space that would allow him to walk sideways if he tried.

He pressed on the bottom of the brass knuckle for three seconds and the spikes went back in, appearing to have never been there in the first place. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the iPod, pressing the center and allowing the laser to come out of the headphone hole. He made a circle in the wall large enough for him to fit through, stopped the iPod and shoved it back in his pocket, and grasped the falling metal circle. He pulled it out and placed it on the ground behind him. Luckily there were no patrols on top of that specific warehouse., no one had seen the bright beam slice through the metal as if bread through butter.

He went through the hole and pressed against the warehouse's cold wall. He began moving slowly to the other end, when he reached it he poked his head out to see if there were anymore guards. None. But how--?

A firm hand grabbed his shoulder. Alex jerked around to swing his fist at whoever it was but stopped when they put their hand on his other shoulder and looked at him.

"Are you crazy?" it was Carter, "Yeesh, chill."

"Carter, don't do that to me." he whispered sharply.

She smiled, "I sowwy,"

"How did you get back here?" he asked, taking her hands down from his shoulders and holding them in his own.

There it was. The pang of guilt. The pool of remorse that had been in Carter's eyes for the past month. Even in the shadows he could see it.

"It stopped near the back of one of the warehouses and I got down before they could see me. Then I saw you come through the wall and followed you." her words were too smooth to be a lie. She had to be telling the truth…but then why was that remorse still lingering like fireflies in a summer night?

"By the way, you came in at a good place." she said.

"How?" Alex looked around the warehouse and to the open.

"You stopped directly in front of that sewer drain."

Alex saw the metal top in the center of the warehouses, the entrance to the drain was maybe eighteen or twenty feet away.

"So how do we get to it?" he asked without moving his sight from the drain.

"We need something to distract those guards." Carter said, letting go of Alex and crouching beneath him, poking her head out by his chin, "And such will happen in three…two…one."

"What're you--?"

There was a loud bang near the gates and soon smoke was filling the plantation.

"What did--?"

"I tore one of the trucks hoses from underneath it, then I put it near the gasoline. When it got the heat it just popped the gasoline. No one's hurt."

The guards from the other side were running over to the gates, leaving the drain open and totally unguarded.

"Let's go…" Carter whispered, her words drifted.

She began to walk past him and out into the open when he grabbed her hand and said, "Wait!"

"Alex, what?" her voice seemed to quaver.

He looked around. There were no guards anywhere in sight, they were all at the other end, perfectly distracted. But they didn't seem to be looking the problem over. They were just standing there with their backs to the drain pipe.

"Something doesn't feel right." he finally said.

"What?" her voice sounded bewildered, "What're you--?"

"Think about it, Carter. That distraction got them too easily, we got _in here too easily,_ things are going--"

"As planned? Perfectly?" Carter rolled her gorgeous gray eyes, "Alex, it's fine. Let's just hurry and get it over with."

"It hasn't even been twenty minutes though."

"Alex, that means it's going perfectly. The sooner we're in there and destroy the place the sooner--"

"Destroy?" Alex was the bewildered one now, "MI6 told me that we only needed to get proof to shut them down."

"Well, we might as well burn the place to the ground. I mean if we do then…" she went back to him and placed her hands on his chest, "We'll have done more than they asked for and they'll probably leave us alone for more than two weeks."

"Do you think so?" he whispered, lifting her hands and kissing her fingers.

The remorse beat in her eyes like a heartbeat now. "Definitely. Now let's go."

She grabbed onto his hand and pulled him out from behind the warehouse and towards the drain.

Alex crouched as they ran, he turned his head to look at the guards. They were still standing there. Like statues, like robots simply staring at the truck.

One guard had their hand hanging limply at his side, his gun barely in his grip and about to fall to the ground. It was then that Alex noticed the color of his skin.

"Carter," his words were strong but fearful.

"What?" her voice wasn't agitated, but rather anticipating but also…not anticipating.

"Those guards. They're…"

Carter looked at the guards and bit her lip, "The liquid…"

Their skin was gray and slick looking. _Like marble. _

"Hurry up," she said quietly, grasping his hand even harder.

They ran quickly to the drain and began lifting the top. Alex lifted it and placed it aside.

"Alright men, back to your posts!" a gruff voice came from the truck and suddenly the guards were going back to their posts.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Alex said quickly. Carter jumped inside without bothering to use the ladder, Alex went after her. Sliding the lid back on from the bottom as he got in. No sooner was the lid slid back was there a footstep over it.

"That was close." Alex said to himself.

"Grody!" Carter snapped at herself.

"What?" Alex asked, jumping off the ladder. His feet came to a splashing land.

"I forgot there was water gunk in here."

"So?"

"I'm wearing freakin' open-toed shoes!"

Alex laughed. "Oops."

She laughed quietly. "Oh, shut up."

Alex held her hand close to him as they walked through the sewer drains.

It was dark and eerie, an odor was coming off the walls as well as slick shears of moss and other things he didn't even want to think about. It was like a whole other building that extended all the way underneath the warehouses by a series of tunnels and passageways. They passed three hallways that connected to three other tunnels, Alex didn't have a clue at where they were going but Carter held onto him and said, "This looks like a good way." they took the tunnel to show up at a fork, she kept walking without hesitation though.

"How do you know the tunnels down here?" Alex finally asked her as they took another one. This one had a brick staircase that led downward.

"CIA got the blueprints of this place and made me memorize the passageways." she said plainly and led him down the stairs. Her shoes were slick and she almost fell as they reached the bottom. Alex leaned forward and caught her in his arms.

"Careful." he whispered softly.

"Of course."

The sewage was no longer flooding the floors anymore, the odor had relaxed a little as they went further down and things seemed a little less vulgar than before.

"Hurry on!" a man's voice echoed from the far end of the tunnel, "Move it!"

A series of footsteps were echoing from afar, but not far enough.

"Move!" the man commanded.

Alex put his arm in front of Carter and pushed her against the wall with him. There was little light where they were and they were practically invisible.

A group of people--of every size and color--went down the tunnel, past the wall where Alex and Carter were against. They didn't look back at them as they passed them, they didn't even seem to notice them. They all had their hands tied behind their backs, gags were in their mouth. Dark bruises painted their skin like bruises on a fruit.

Alex had to keep himself quiet and from launching himself at the tall guard as a young girl passed them. She had long brown hair that reached her waist in dirty knotted curls, her small chubby hands were reddish from where her circulation was being constricted, and--as if she had sensed Alex in the shadows--she turned around to look into the shadows. Of course there was nothing there. Only darkness. No one was down here besides her and her mother and these other people. But as she stared in the eyes of the darkness, they stared back at her milky brown eyes. She had a small round face that had pink blushed cheeks and pale pink lips. But bruises decorated her features and her eyes pleaded with the shadows to save her from receiving anymore of them.

Alex balled his hand into a fist, his nails biting into his palms. His anger was matting up like thorns that were barbing his heart and mind.

Carter slid her hand up to his and entwined her fingers around his fist. He turned to look at her and he could see that she felt the same way.

When the group finally passed Alex and Carter stepped out from the shadows and began walking the way the group had come. But as they turned they almost ran into another guard that was tailing the others. Alex grabbed Carter, thinking maybe he hadn't seen them, but it was too late.

The guard's eyes grew wide and his mouth opened to call out for help, when Alex lashed out his hand and hit the man in the stomach. The guard doubled over and Carter launched forward. She threw out her hand and hit the man in the temple with an incredible force causing him to raise up and grab his head, then she jumped and kicked him in the chest with her heel. He fell backwards with the attack. But it didn't stop him. He looked up and--for a second Alex thought he had seen his eyes glow--kicked at Carter, aiming for her legs. But she jumped and elbowed his side. Alex lurched forward and jumped over him, lashing out his leg at his back and shoving him toward Carter. Carter kicked again with full force and yelled at Alex, "Ring! The spikes!"

Alex almost pressed down on the brass knuckle when he realized what she was wanting. She wanted to kill the guard.

The guard rolled on the ground and Alex jumped over him. But then, like a cat, the guard leapt up and crouched on the ground like a cat. He straightened up and ran towards them. Then Carter ran past Alex and silver flash went in the air as she placed herself face to face with the guard. The red-headed man stopped in his tracks, his arms frozen in the air from where he almost brought them down on Carter, his eyes were wide again but no longer with fear but with blankness.

Carter jerked her arm back and the man fell at her feet.

Alex sustained his gasp as Carter turned around to look at him.

Crimson splatters speckled the bottom half of her dress and her bare legs. The silver flash Alex had seen was the blood-soaked dagger that was in her hand, the same crimson liquid dripping on her hands like ruby beads.

"Car…" he couldn't speak.

"Necessary," she said the word smoothly and placed the dagger back on her thigh.

She began to walk past the guard's corpse and down the tunnel.

Alex ran after her.

"Killing him wasn't necessary." he snapped at her as he caught up with her.

"If we would've left him unconscious"--she turned on him--"he would've woken up soon and would've told the others we were here."

"But we might've been done and out of here by then." Alex took her hand and wiped it on his torn shirt.

She jerked her hand doubled over, retching the little contents of her stomach.

"Carter!" Alex pulled back the fallen hair that was in her face as she puked. He rubbed her shoulders as she stayed doubled over, he could feel her take deep quick breaths as she stayed there.

"Bad memories?" he asked softly.

She grabbed his hand and held it near her heart, he could feel how it raced and soon he felt something warm and wet go down his fingers.

"Present betrayal…" her words were so quiet Alex couldn't hear them, he only heard a soft buzz.

"Carter?" he could feel the wetness coming from her cheeks, and soon he realized she was sobbing. But Carter wasn't a lachrymose person, except for once when he had insulted her harshly.

"I thought I heard something down there!"

A man's voice and footsteps sounded as they stood there. Carter's head snapped up and she grasped Alex's hand tighter.

"No…" she breathed, her words to herself, "I can't…"

"Carter, are you okay?" Alex helped her straighten up but then heard the man's voice, "Carter, we have to go."

Carter held onto him and ran forward.

They went down the tunnel, the men's voices getting weaker and weaker.

"This way," Carter dragged him down another series of stairs that went further down into the ground.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Alex asked her gently.

She nodded, "The main labs. I saw the inside of that one-door warehouse and it goes down five stories. We've only gone two."

"How do you know that?"

"When we scouted the warehouses, I looked at the door with the binoculars and one of the guards opened the door. There was a floor plan in visible sight on the wall."

She led them to a dead end. There was nothing there but a brick wall with a lantern hanging from the low ceiling.

"Carter…"

"Down there!"

They hadn't lost the men.

"It's here somewhere." she reached into the front her dress and pulled out the sunglasses. Pressing down on the side she squinted as it made everything from the other side clear enough for her to see.

"Carter," Alex was standing behind her now, his back to her and his eyes staring at the end of the stairs.

"Here!" she pulled on a loose brick and extended her hand inside the hole.

Suddenly the wall moved and slid to the side, displaying the inside of--an elevator!

"Get in!" Carter jerked him inside and pressed a blank button, causing the door to let out a slick huff and close.

"How did you know about this?" he asked as she pressed a button that was possibly the fifth.

"The blueprints."

The inside of the elevator was metal with silver tracing the floor like a mirror, there were two doors in it--one behind and one in front of them. Carter stood looking at one and Alex at the other. If someone was going to use the elevator than they would catch them and they didn't need that.

Finally the elevator lurched downward and in less than four seconds it stopped.

"Wait," Carter's voice was airy and worried.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, getting close to her.

She bit her lip and a tear went down her cheek.

"Carter, what's wrong?" he wiped her tear away with his thumb.

Quickly she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. But her kiss felt final. Like she would never see him again. Her lips quavered as they twisted with his and he could feel the tears seep from her eyes to his cheeks.

He tangled his fingers in her hair and kept her close to him. He didn't know what was happening with her but he wouldn't ask right then. He would figure out what had happened when they were back home, out of the mission.

She pulled away from his lips but kept her forehead to his, "I don't want to regret not doing something I should've done before we go out there."

"What're you talking--"

"If one of us gets hurt…we won't make it. It's Scorpia. They'll never let us live."

"Don't say such things." he told her, "We're going to be fine. They can't take us."

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready."

Carter pushed herself away from him and pressed a button.

"There should be some kind of explosives down here." she said as the door huffed, "If e can find them, we need to set them in the four points of the plantation."--the door began sliding--"the weak parts, then we get out of here, set them off and destroy this place off the map."

The door was fully opened.

"Got it." Alex said.

Carter nodded at him and crept out of the elevator.

She stood in the middle of the hallway in a crouched position, then she waved at Alex, motioning him to come forward.

Alex kept his fingers close to the brass knuckle as he came out. Carter was going forward already to the fork in the hallways. Her hand on the side of her leg. Alex came by her side, her heard the wheels of some kind of thing squeak down the hall. He heard the quick taps of a woman's shoes as it went away from them slowly.

"This'll be easy," he said quietly.

"Very."

Carter looked at him and smiled, saying, "let's split up."

"What?" Alex's eyebrows furrowed, "Split up? But we just got together, pumpkin." he teased.

She shoved his shoulder and said, "I'm serious. Take that hallway and I'll take this one. If you can find out where the explosives are I want you to contact me on this"--she gave him a small black headphone that was the size of the head of a tack--"press the center and talk. That's how we'll communicate."

"Where did you get these?" he asked as he slipped it in his ear.

"CIA gives me gadgets time to time." she slipped hers in and smiled at him.

"I'll see you in a little bit." he said to her, putting his hand on the side of her face.

She took his hand and kissed his palm, "As soon as possible."

She turned around and began running down the hall of doors and entryways. She disappeared behind a wall and Alex turned around.

He began walked down the hallway slowly, his hands in fists already.

The fifth floor was a strange place. When they had gotten off the elevator it had been bright with white and cream and baby blue--like a hospital--but as he turned corners and went through doors, it started getting darker and soon the white and blue was replaced with gray and black.

The floors changed from fine wax to cement. Soon the walls weren't walls but rather fences with pipes and hoses and machines around them.

_Where am I? _Alex thought.

He kept walking slowly and decided to slip on the sunglasses, pressing the buttons for the night vision to kick in.

Everything was in a shade of green now, it was brighter now and he could see where he was going.

He went down a hallway that seemed to slant downward slowly. He went down with it to find a dead end.

He was about to turn around when he found a vent that was large enough for him to squeeze through.

He kicked in the grate and took it off, throwing it aside.

He squeezed in his head and shoulders first and crawled with his elbows on the slick metal. When his feet were finally in he found it curved to the left and began turning.

He couldn't see the end but rather a million other turns that possibly led to other rooms.

After making a random decision, he turned into one vent and realized that the vent wasn't on the floor--it was hanging on the ceiling!

"…done with the shipment…"

The voice made Alex stop and look through the closest vent. That's when he realized something else. The other vents didn't lead to other rooms, they lead to the one underneath him. The room looked like some kind of laboratory, there were over thirty men in white coats standing beside a large tent that seemed to emanating a ghastly glow.

There were nine files of soldiers in front of the tent. They were all in camouflage with their hands dangling limply at their sides. They all looked so similar, like the clone that Alex had once faced in Point Blanc.

There was a large tank that stood at least thirty feet in the air that held a man in it. The man was squirming about and yelling words that were blocked because of the thick glass.

All around the room there were testing tubes and monitors, there were cages and boxes, there were gasoline, oxygen, and hydrogen tanks in all places of the room, there were pipes that was giving off some kind of yellow fume into the tank--Alex was sure it wasn't perfume. This was definitely the weak point of the building. One flame would send the places to bits.

"Arnie!" an elderly dusty voice came out from below Alex, "How are my troops?"

Alex could see a man of at least in his mid forties with glasses the size of drink coasters, come toward the voice.

Then the man who had spoken came out from underneath Alex.

He was old, maybe late sixties, but he carried himself proudly like those young CEOs had. He was wearing a white suit with a pink and green striped tie, a polished black cane with a silver head and a scorpion imprinted on it was helping him walk, his white hair was slicked back like a comb over and in his other hand he had a silk handkerchief that he had just dabbed his eye with three times in the current minute.

"Mr. Geiger," the man with the glasses, Arnie, came over to him with a chart, "the test subjects are coming out perfectly. We've tested a separate subject in between the ages of fourteen and thirty and they have come out exactly as we expected."

"Fourteen?" Alex mumbled the age to himself as he laid on his stomach, staring out the bars of the vent.

"And when will the full load be ready?" Geiger asked, dabbing at his watering eyes once more.

"By tonight, monsieur,"--Alex hadn't noticed the man was French--"all twelve hundred."

_Twelve!--_

"Only twelve hundred?" Geiger's voice sounded irritated more than the surprised tone he was motioning at.

"Monsieur," a woman with golden hair that was pulled up in a ponytail and a diamond shaped face came up, "we only have one tank--"

"Ms. James," Geiger put the tip of his cane near her foot, "make room."

"But monsieur--"

"We will do that, monsieur Geiger," Arnie put his arm in front of the woman and looked at her crossly, "we'll have two thousand by the end of the night."

Alex was getting uncomfortable now. Two thousand? Two thousand of the gray skinned, eye-glowing soldiers?

He began remembering the guard Carter had killed, he had simply gotten up from the beatings he himself had landed on him, Carter's heel had hit his temple and yet it seemed to have no affect. But when the dagger had struck him he had immediately stopped…dead.

"Have they all been made impenetrable?" Geiger asked.

"To an extent, sir," Arnie was shifting from foot to foot.

"An extent?"

"Well, sir, we-we've only been able to get the skin to heal back. They'll be completely healed in a few moments time--depending on the intensity of the wound."

Geiger stepped forward, past the scientist and in front of the tank with the man.

"Make the next eight hundred invincible."

"But sir--"

"Mr. Arnold," Geiger's voice held harsh authority.

"We will try," Arnie sank back.

"You will do more than try. You will do it."

Alex flinched at the sound of the man's last words.

Trying to ignore the fact that so many soldiers would be created, he began looking around the room for any sign of dynamite. Anything. Grenades, cherry bombs, TNT, anything!

There was a loud bang as something fell to the floor.

"Hey!" a chubby little man no taller than five foot wobbled over to the door of the room--or at least one of the ten doors, "Careful with that! Do you realize how dangerous that is in this room?!"

Alex knew what was in it before the man had even mentioned the next words he heard, "There are over thirty explosives in there! Don't. Drop. It. Again."

Alex smiled to himself and looked around the room. He figured how to get through one of the doors and to those six large boxes that was at the corner of the room. And it would definitely be before the clock struck eleven.

He pressed on the small earpiece in his ear, he heard a faint beep and whispered, "Carter, I found some ammo, but I don't think I can get to it."

"Where is it?" she replied. Her voice was echoing and he heard an electric spark in the background.

"I think that this is the main lab. There's a lot of experiments going on and I'm pretty sure it can make the whole place go kaboom.

"Have you found any?"

She was quiet for a moment.

"Carter?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. They had some in the back rooms with a lot of other stuff. I'm setting them up right now."

"Good. I'm gonna try to get those and set 'em up."

"Alex…"

"Yeah?"

"…please be careful."

He smiled to himself, "I'll see you in a little bit."

Alex pushed himself back and began going down the vents again. He pulled himself further along with his elbows until he was at the vent on the ground again. He crawled out quickly and placed the grate back on the vent.

How was he going to get in that room. It was below him no doubt. How would he reach it?

He began feeling on the walls for a hollow place, he knocked twice and could feel where the studs were. But then he knocked again and the pound echoed lightly. _Here. _

Instead of using the laser again, he released the spikes and purged them into the wall. Pulling downward once. Then he did it again and formed a small square he could look through. He pushed the metal inside but didn't hear it clang loudly, but rather softly like it hadn't gone to far. He looked through to see and sure enough there was a wooden border that stuck out at least five inches. It was thick enough for him to walk on.

The border went around the entire room, above the doors, tank, and boxes of explosives. The other fact of it was that some lights hung from beneath the border, other than the ones on the ceiling themselves, and he would be in the shadows. The scientists and Geiger wouldn't see him. He could possibly get down to the explosives, place a few in the room and get out of there without getting caught.

He ran the spikes down the hole twice, forming a larger square. But instead of pushing it inside, he grabbed it and pulled it, placing it on the ground quietly.

He slipped in and kept his back to the wall. Slowly, he angled his foot and started walking against the wall. Each step he took required at least two seconds. If he made on wrong movement he would fall twenty feet downward and break a bone, not to mention get caught. As he moved he could see exactly how far Geiger and his associates were. The far wall was at least fifty feet away, the tank was starting to bubble the green liquid and rise onto the man inside it. The tank itself was at least ten feet wide, fifteen feet tall, and eight feet thick. If Geiger and the others hadn't been looking straight at it he might've gone to it and climbed over it. But it was too far and he didn't have enough time.

It took him ten minutes to get to the corner of the wall, then he had to find a way down that wouldn't make a lot of noise.

As he looked around he saw that the man in the tank was beginning to thrash around. It made Alex angry to see him in suffering, but he needed to time his thrashing to be able to get down. He saw that the metal that was holding him was starting to lose screws and was hitting the glass with force. Each pound was louder than the previous. Alex began counting in his head every pound. He got the beat.

Finally the metal brace burst free and hit the glass harder than before, making it sound like an explosion than a hit. Geiger didn't flinch but his employees did. They had noticed the loud pound clearly, but they hadn't noticed the equally loud bang of the boy that had jumped from their wall and landed in a mess of wires and testing tubes.

Alex swore in his mind as he shoved off the wires that had tangled themselves around his legs and arms, he kept back his yelp as a piece of testing tube glass was cutting his skin.

After he was out of the mess, he crouched behind a large machine that was at the corner and poked his head out to see if anyone had heard him. Nothing. Zip, zilch nada.

That's when he got against the wall again and walked behind the machines that lined them. He got to the boxes in no time. He used the spikes again to tear open the top quickly and quietly. When he opened it he almost gave a laugh at what was inside, he thought he had gotten the wrong box. Inside it was more than five dozen uniforms. Hats, shirts, pants, and boots. Army uniforms. But Alex knew right away they weren't American, British or French. These seemed to be middle eastern. He began pulling out the uniforms and throwing them on the ground. He dug in the box until he reached the bottom. A box of uniforms? What was going on?

He ripped open the next box and found more uniforms. He reached the bottom of it and found no explosives.

Frustrated he opened the next one…and smiled. There was every kind of explosive imaginable inside the box. Cherry bombs, grenades, hand missiles, TNT, everything. He found a rolled TNT with a timer on it and grabbed it. He put it on his belt and snatched the cherry bombs, putting them in his pockets. He found out that the other four boxes were filled to the top with the explosives but he knew he couldn't carry them all.

He grabbed four of the rolled TNT and held them in his hand. Luckily there was two detonators to the five he had. But it was an electric detonator, not one that needed to connected to the things. He kept below the machines and placed one of the TNT at the other corner of the room. Then from that corner he slid the second TNT across the floor until it hit the wall with a quiet thump.

He rolled six cherry bombs across the floor near the TNT. When the TNT would go off, the flames would lick the cherry bombs and set them off as well.

Then he went back to the other corner and placed the third TNT there, sliding the fourth one to the other end. He had all four corners covered now. He tossed the cherry bombs on the floor, sprinkling them like the topping of a sundae.

Shoving the detonators in his pocket, he grabbed more of the explosives and placed them in his pocket, his belt, and the outside of his shirt like a wet rag. He gave a new meaning to walking bombs.

But then he realized he had one more place to cover.

The tank.

But the people were still staring at it, there was no way he could get it there and it not be obvious. So he ran to the door and opened it quietly. With his legs ready to run he put a foot out the door and threw the bomb at the tank.

He was gone before it hit the top.

He ran quickly as he heard Arnie yell out, "What was that?!"

"Check it out," Ms. James snapped.

Alex couldn't hear anymore as he ran down the dark hallways. They were still cold and damp, there was still fences that lined the walls and pipes and hoses that decorated them like snakes. Alex placed two TNT near the pumps and kept running.

He scattered the bombs everywhere as he ran, if Carter was doing the same then the place would definitely not be there anymore.

He got rid of the last cherry bombs and stopped by a door.

He pressed onto the earpiece and whispered, "Carter, Carter, are you there?"

She replied quickly and breathlessly, "Yeah, what is it?"

"I got the whole bottom floors settled. The main lab is topped--there's no way this place'll still be on the map."

"You got it all set up then?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah.

"Where are you?"

"Near the east walls. I'm going back to the place we split up at. Meet me there."

"I'll do that."

Alex didn't keep talking, he could tell she had already finished her part of the conversation.

He had memorized the way from the hallway and was finding his way back easily. The only problems he had were when unexpected people came and he had to hide someplace quickly.

After fifteen minutes he was back at the place where he and Carter had split.

He looked at his watch.

Ten fifty-three.

_You're not getting me tonight, Scorpia. _he thought, _I win. Third time. _

"Carter, where are you?" he said into the earpiece.

"Close," her voice cracked as she said the word.

"Were you able to get some bombs placed?"

"Yeah, um, I-I got them on the basement floors and the top floors. They-they're ready." she swallowed hard.

"Carter, babe, are you okay?"

"Yeah…I'm almost there. Alex…"

"Yeah…"

"I'm--"

He heard a click.

Alex froze solid as a man's slick voice came from behind him.

"Did you really think you got us, Rider?"

Alex turned around to see the blonde-smoker man standing behind him, an angel pistol in his hand. He kept his face still as he saw the gun turn on its side.

"Not a chance." the man said, the cigarette that was hanging on the side of his mouth bouncing with his words.

Alex was about to launch out with a kick that would be too fast to see, it would've been faster than his finger pulling the trigger. He would've had him down in an instant, he would've knocked him unconscious and would've ran to find Carter. He would've told her they'd been caught and would've dragged her out of the plantation. He would've done all that if one thing hadn't happened…

…Carter.

"NO!!!" her voice echoed around the hallway and erupted into his ears.

Alex jerked around to see her at the end of the hall, her hand extended and tears splaying down her cheeks, her eyes finally filling to their extent with the remorse he had seen for so long.

"Car--!"

The man pulled the trigger.

A burning, piercing feeling went into his side. It burned like hot steel, reaching every nerve of his body. It scraped at his head and tore at his waist. His legs buckled and he fell down. The pain ripped inside of him. He felt warm liquid pour through his fingers and onto the floor.

"ALEX!!!!" Carter's scream made his agony worse.

He felt his world going black, his senses were going haywire. He couldn't feel anything at a time, but then it hit him like a smoldering boulder. He felt hot and cold at the same time, he felt warm hands go on the sides of his face and he felt Carter's lips on his forehead.

"I'm sorry…" she sobbed.

He wanted to tell her to not cry, he wasn't going to die.

But then her face was out of his view as blackness took over and he fell unconscious.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At first it was all a buzzing sound. It rang in his head like a thousand bees droning inside his head, a thousand jack hammers drilling his skull. The pain in his body and head was wearing him down, he felt like one large bruise. His pulse was beating in his ears like one large drum. The only good thing he found from the pain was that he could feel it. It meant something to him. He wasn't dead

The buzzing finally calmed down and through the pulses he was able to recognize the buzzing as voices. .

Two voices.

"…fine now?"

It was Geiger. He sounded irritated and somewhat angered.

"Yes, sir." the second voice sounded young and afraid. Alex had his eyes closed but could see the man in his mind as a scrawny person that was probably as afraid as a kitten picking up the scent of a pit bull.

"What happened again?"

"Solomon was too close to the boy when he shot the tranquilizer. It penetrated too deep into his side."

Alex kept his eyes closed and his breathing even, he was trying to hear as much as possible and have them think he was asleep. He shifted his waist and suddenly there was a burst of pain battering into his body. He kept his scream silent but he could feel his cheeks getting hot and his body pounded harder than ever.

Barely opening his eyes he glanced around the room to see where he was, his vision was blurry from the tears that were skimming his eyes and almost falling from the brim of his eyes.

He was laying on a leather sofa, a thin blanket under him--like those from hospitals. Around his waist up to the middle of his ribs there was a white bandage, it was tight and itchy now that he was getting feeling back into his body. A pinkish-red splotch was beginning to fade through the bandage.

He also noticed that he was bare-chested. His shirt was on the other side of the couch, but thankfully that had been the only thing they'd taken from him. He could feel the shapes of the iPod and camera sphere in both of his pockets, and the cold tingling feeling on his fingers let him know the brass knuckle was still on his hand.

"But he's fine now?" Geiger's voice was sounding close to his head, so Alex shut his eyes and tried to not feel the pain lancing into him.

"As fine as he can be. We got the tranquilizer dart out of him and stitched him up." the doctor's voice was close as well, "But the bleeding hasn't stopped and any harsh movements could cause the wound to open up again."

"Really?" Geiger's voice was snakelike. Alex could feel cold fingers lacing themselves into his hair, his own sweat was cold.

Suddenly, Geiger gripped his head and threw him off the couch.

Alex fell into the glass coffee table that was beside him, shattering it and cutting his arms and top of his back.

He yelled. He yelled in pain, in the agony, in the torture that was going throughout him. His yells were laced with cries, he felt the hot tears roll down his cheeks as the pain throbbed in him like a drum.

"You're awake." Geiger's voice was silky and velvet, "How nice of you."

Alex wanted to yell at him the curse words that were exploding in his mind, but before he could open his mouth two large men grabbed him by the arms and jerked him up.

"Embry," Geiger stared at Alex like he was some kind of exotic treasure.

The first man, Embry, twisted Alex's arm behind him and grabbed him by the neck. He slammed him into the wall beside him, knocking off every decoration that trailed it. He heard the glass of vases shatter and felt the edge of a picture frame clip him in the shoulder.

"You know you've caused us a lot of trouble, Rider." Geiger said, "You've destroyed one of our greatest facilities, killed two of our best executives and now you're attempting to destroy another of our facilities.

"I must say"--the guard twisted Alex around and slammed his back into the wall. Geiger grabbed his cheek and made him look at him--"you are one stubborn thing to kill. Many times you've faced death, walked straight up to it. You knocked on the devil's door and it was finally answered. What I don't understand…is how you were able to avoid it so many times.

"Wait I do." Geiger smiled devilishly, "You're a Rider. You're father had the same luck--until we handled it--your uncle--until one of our old assassins Gregorovich dealt with him--even your godfather."

Alex tightened his jaw. He wouldn't stand for this.

"But he was foolish and acted quite stupidly."

"Don't ever talk about him like that!" Alex wriggled in Embry's hold, "Don't ever mention--"

"But he killed your parents. He betrayed them."

"Shut up--"

"This'll be the second betrayal now won't it?"

Alex didn't comprehend it, "What're you talking about.

He saw at the far end of the room there was a large wooden desk with a bookshelf behind it. Geiger was walking to it and Embry was pushing him into a metal chair that was in front of the desk.

Alex saw a tube of lipstick, a small black circle that shined like polished onyx, a purple iPod, and a shining silver dagger.

_Carter's gadgets! _"Where's Carter?" he asked about her lethally, his voice was low and demanding. But he knew it wouldn't make much of a difference since Embry had slammed him into the chair and was cuffing his hands in thick metal links.

"With my associate Solomon Tourniquet." Geiger sat and leaned over the desk, his hands folded into a pyramid, "Don't worry. She's safe."

"What're you gonna do to her?"

"With that lovely little goddess? I really don't feel like answering that question. And it really shouldn't matter to you." he picked up the dagger and twirled it in his hands, "Considering the fact that you'll die in just a few moments."

Alex looked at the clock overhead.

"It's past midnight. Your deadline was at eleven." Alex huffed, "You already broke your word."

"We never keep our word.

"Besides, our Black Magician wanted to see you before you enter the void."

"What?" why would the assassin want to see him?

"Yes. She was the one who convinced us to fill Solomon's gun with tranquilizer darts. She knew where you were going and she informed us of everything you were attempting to do. She was the one who led us to you, but she's also the one who's letting you live at the moment."

Alex could feel warm streaks of blood flowing down his back and arms.

"What does she want with me?"

"She'll tell you."

"And after she comes?"

Geiger smiled a bright white smile that looked like it belonged to a clown doll, "We kill you."

"Kill me? Why not turn me into one of your little toy soldiers like you're doing with all those people?"

Geiger's smile faded and he straightened, "You discovered that did you? Well here's the reason: one of the experiments, a man named Travis Hunt--experiment 1098--was made into an invincible soldier. His vitals were steady, he was what we have been creating for the past two months. But there was… a slight problem. After everything we had done to him, injected in him, tested on him. After three days, he returned to normal. His body was still as we had made it to be but his mind came back to order. He asked where he was, what was going on, why he looked like a clay statue. We realized then some experiments have certain glitches that can make their mind itself reject the transformation.

"We don't want to take that chance on you." he smiled, "So we might as well kill you."

Alex flinched back as he said the last seven like he was agreeing to a minor problem.

"But see Rider," he went on, "You've put us through so much. And really I believe that since you caused the deaths of Mrs. Rothman and Winston Yu that you should pay for that."

The second man grabbed Alex's shoulder and slammed his fist into his jaw. Alex flinched at the pain, he kept his cries silent as the man grabbed his hair and threw him out of the chair, kicking his large leg at Alex's wounded side.

He couldn't keep the yells back anymore, he yelled out and blood speckled his lips as he did.

The man picked him up and threw him to Embry, who lashed out his hand and smacked him in the face.

Alex was thrown against a china cabinet that had breakables and whatnot, the things rained from the cabinet and Alex covered his head as they broke around him. But he didn't stay like for long before Embry grabbed his arm and threw him across the room, ramming him into a picture that stood eight feet tall.

Alex's vision was flickering, his pain was blundering into him like a million horses running in a plain. He could barely feel his legs, barely feel his back from the itching feeling that told him it was numb. He looked up and saw Embry's fist raise in the air, it began to hurtle at him but suddenly someone screamed, "STOP IT!"

Alex recognized the voice. The velvet voice that had come into his life a month ago.

He turned his bruised, scratched, bleeding face against the wall and saw Carter standing at the doorway of the room. Beside her was the blonde smoker man, Solomon Tourniquet. He was smoking a thin cigarette and was smiling devilishly at Alex.

But Carter wasn't the same.

Instead of the blood-spattered, sheared, silk dress and silver shoes

she had worn at the ball she was wearing a tight, black, long-sleeve shirt, that had thumb holes at the end of the sleeves; black pants that clung to her and gave her room to move; and chining black boots that stood three inches from the ground and were tipped red at the end of the heel.

Instead of the up-do with pearls and crystals she had had her hair was falling black thick tresses along her shoulders.

And her eyes were pouring tears, they flooded her face and streaked her cheeks.

"Carter…" his words were soft and weak. He couldn't talk strong now, his voice was weakened and bruised like his body.

Carter looked at him with her sobbing eyes then at the floor. Why wouldn't she look at him?

That's when he realized too many things at once.

The two guards weren't grabbing her, Solomon wasn't touching her. No one did anything to her. In fact the guards stared in awe at her.

Geiger walked from behind the desk and towards her. When he reached her he slid his hand on her cheek, but she jerked it away and tightened her jaw.

Geiger smiled softly.

"Alex," he looked back, "I want to introduce you to someone."

Carter looked down at the ground. Her eyes still crying, she didn't seem to be able to stop.

"I want to introduce you to my personal assassin. The one who's fed me so much information to us and led you here."

Alex looked toward the door. The Black Magician would come through the door, she would come up to him and beat him even more. And he would've taken it. He would've endured the pain and even died.

But his heart tightened and his throat squeezed as the reality hit him. It hurt worse than the pain in his body, worse than the cuts, the bruises and the wound.

"…my Black Magic…"

Geiger put his hand on Carter's face again and she looked back at Alex.

That's when he realized where the remorse in her eyes had come from.

"My assassin, Cassandra Luving."


	14. Picking a Side

**Okay I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and the next, it took a little figuring out but I put my best Anthony-Horowitz-Thinking-Cap on and tried to make it wound like him. **

**The last chapter is the next one you guys, thanks for sticking it out this long with me =D Xoxo, Millie**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Why had it ended like this?**

**Betrayed, tortured, lied to. **

**Alex would've given his world for Carter, he would've died for her. But as he sat there in the reeking little cell of a dungeon he knew he had been a fool. **

**He had been too stupid to notice the obvious, to note the things that had practically slapped him in the face. **

**Alex pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on them. His hands were chained to the floor with rusty clamps that were cutting into his wrists and making them sting like heck. The cold floor he was sitting on didn't bother him though. It wouldn't have made a difference. He was numb as is--not counting his wrists--the cold, wetness, and stench didn't affect him. At the moment nothing had. **

"**How could I be so stupid!" he whispered sharply to himself, putting his head against the wall hard, "How could I have trusted her?" **

**The cell he was in was at least ten stories below Geiger's office. It was built of salt rotted bricks with a grate that hung twelve feet above him. Beside him there was a curving stair that had no railing and led back to the plantation, at least back up to three floors below Geiger. There was some type of plant growing inside the cell. A vine entwined around the grate and was coming through the walls. Alex could tell it was alive and had shifted in the two hours he had been down there because a brick had fallen from where the plant had pushed it.**

**There was absolutely no light in the cell, despite a small moon beam that came through the grate, from the sewer drain. It shined on the plant and Alex was finally able to figure out what plant it was that was growing inside. **

_**Roses…**_

**But how was it possible? There was no light, barely any air, definitely no water. Where did it get the strength to grow. **

**But of course from what he had just witnessed earlier, what **_**wasn't**_** possible?**

**The roses were a deep rich crimson that resembled black in the darkness. They weren't like the ones that had been in the back yard of the Jousts. Rich blue. Alex had thought of Carter as a blue rose. She was different, gorgeous, but also he realized that a blue rose is made artificially. It's real but it's not natural, it's fake. That fit her also. **

**Alex sighed as he counted the minutes that were passing by. In an hour it would be three fifteen. In forty-five minutes it would all be over. It would be over for nothing!**

**Scorpia had finally won. They'd beaten him. And how? They'd gotten him in his weak spot, they'd set out for his heart. And they had succeeded. They had him now, why not finish it?**

**He sighed as he remembered the final moments that he was in Geiger's office. He remembered the pain they'd put him through. The scars, wound and bruises were still battering him like a cannon. The wound Carter had made on him the most.**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Carter shoved off Geiger's hand and began to walk out. **

**Alex was still in the guard's tight grasps, but he wasn't looking at Carter anymore. He couldn't. He was just staring at the ground. His pain was pulsating like a drum, but he didn't seem to notice it too much. **

**Geiger's assassin? His personal assassin?**

"**Ah, ah, ah, Cassandra," Geiger twirled his cane and Solomon shut the door right before she walked out, "You mustn't leave when we have a guest."**

**Solomon turned her by her shoulders and she bit down on her lip. The remorse in her eyes was throbbing as bad as Alex's pain. **

"**What're you waiting for, Geiger!" Alex finally yelled, his arms tightening in the guards grasp, "You're freakin' Black Magic saw me already! Get it over with!"**

**He didn't know what had given him the power in his voice to say that, he didn't even know he could say something that sounded that harsh to Carter. **

**Carter looked at him and then at the floor. Geiger took her by the arm and led her beside his desk. The guards took Alex and shoved him into the chair again. His hands were still tied and his wrists were feeling bruised. **

**Carter stood by Geiger with her hands at her sides. That was when Geiger grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her. She gave a quiet yelp of surprise as he did. **

"**Did you really not suspect of her, Alex?" he asked his hand went to the bottom of her shirt, "All the signs were there--including this one." His fingers grabbed the bottom of her black shirt and pulled it up to her shoulder blades. **

**Alex stared at her back. **

**At the lower region near her kidney was a silver scorpion, the mark of Scorpia. He remembered the first time when they had scouted the warehouses and her shirt had rolled up. He had seen something dark on her back but had chosen to ignore it. **

**He realized then that all the signs **_**had **_**been there. **

**Carter shoved him off and she pulled her shirt back down.**

"**You want to know how you were caught tonight, Rider?" **

**Alex looked at Carter. She was staring at him with her remorse-filled eyes. **

_**Stop it. **_**he was sure his own eyes were saying that. **

"**You want to know how you were lead this way into my grasp…into the spider's parlor little fly?"**

**Alex tightened his hands into fists. **

"**We knew everything, little bug. We knew where you slept, we knew where you ate, we knew where you went, who you fought, what you touched…**_**who **_**you touched." **

**Carter looked at Geiger and then closed her eyes. **

"**It was all because of a little magic," he waved his fingers as if sprinkling something, "sprinkled onto your devil's luck.**

"**She told us everything.**

"**the first time you came to scout us, Solomon here shot a bullet at you two. But if you had paid close attention you would've realized it was only a blank. **

"**That night Black Magician came in and left your first note. When you saw her at the window you should have recognized her when you saw Cassandra in the shadows.**

"**When she passed you the notes in school during class you should've recognized the handwriting. **

"**When she knew her ways around the tunnels…" Geiger put his hands on Carter's shoulders and went down her arms, her eyes were still closed as she jerked in his grasp, "you should've known."**

**Alex knew he should've known. He had seen all the signs. More than twice she had tried to tell him who she was but he had interrupted her with his own desires. **

"**It was all a lie…" Geiger said, his voice velvety darkness. **

**That's when Carter came to, she snapped open her eyes and seemed to try to go toward Alex.**

"**No!" she said to him, "It wasn't. Alex, it wasn't all a lie. I swear to you. The ball--"**

"**Hush Cassandra," Geiger put his finger on her lips, "hush." **

**Alex was looking at her now with an anger that was burning inside him. **

"**You were the one that killed all those men?" Alex said, his voice was quiet but he was sure Carter could hear them loud and clear, "Who else did you--"**

"**Remember those two agents MI6 talked about? The ones that had gotten killed by Snakehead? Ash didn't kill them, she did."**

"**Alex--" she tried to talk again but Geiger kept on. **

"**And you remember her past? The one she was so embarrassed of because of its darkness? It's halfway true. But not all of it. **

"**Sammy, her friend--her only friend at CIA--when he was shot he was shot by Black Eclipse, but she was the one holding the gun."**

"**Stop it.." Carter said softly. **

"**Your godfather Ash and she have been our most affective spies yet. You know why? Because they've been able to lie to you in front of your face."**

**Alex looked down at the ground. He couldn't believe it. It was her. All her. She had betrayed him so much, she had lied, killed. She wasn't Carter…who was she?**

"**Alex, it wasn't a lie!" she finally yelled, "It wasn't I swear, I--"**

**Geiger lashed out his hand and struck her across the face. She didn't let out a sound as she stumbled into the bookshelf behind the desk. She let her hair fall in her face and Alex couldn't tell if her cheek was bruising or smarting. **

"**Stop it," Alex said sharply. That's when both Carter and Geiger looked at him, he could see the surprise in Geiger's face and something that was mixed between surprise and betrayal in Carter's, "It doesn't matter what she's done, she's still a person."**

**Somehow he knew that wasn't what Carter was expecting, when her head tilted to a side and she turned he knew all too well.**

"**She's a murderer." Geiger sat on the edge of his desk, "And you still have compassion?"**

**Alex stared at Geiger with eyes that held rage. He could feel his cheeks flaring with the anger that was boiling inside him. Because of everything. Everything that was happening. **

"**Hmm, you are a person I will never understand, Rider."**

"**I don't expect you to." Alex tried to wiggle his wrists in the cuffs but found that they were starting to cut them.**

"**What's your hurry, Rider?" Geiger sounded like he was asking a wealthy good friend to stay for dinner, "You haven't heard my little concoction."**

"**I'd rather have my heart--"**

"**Broken? Betrayed? That's already happened, might as well listen."**

**Alex tightened his jaw and looked at the desk, not wanting to look at the filthy well-groomed scum that Scorpia was making now.**

"**Hmmm, well." Geiger was sitting on the edge of his desk with one hand clutching a dampening silk handkerchief. His voice was as nonchalant as if he were speaking to an old friend about a simple error in his plans for the day's plans. "Have you heard of that war that is happening between Germany and Afghanistan, Alex?"**

"**I don't watch the news." Alex snapped. He didn't. Too depressing, it always reminded him that eventually MI6 would call him on another mission to go into something difficult and non-death-defying. **

"**Well you should pay attention to what is happening around the world much more."**

"**Sure." Alex made his voice as sarcastic as possible, not trying to hide the fact that he was pretty pissed off at that moment. At everything. "I'll be sure to do that when I get home and eat my bowl of Captain Crunch." he made his face as taut as possible. The entire time he had been mouthing Geiger he hadn't looked at him once, he stared at the painting behind Geiger and Carter. He knew if he even glared at Carter his feelings would whiplash him and make his fierce stance die down. **

"**Well, then allow me to explain. These two countries are fighting because of God-knows what. We never really went into specifics with the details. But the ambassador in Afghan somehow discovered our **_**unique **_**scientists and their labs."--Alex felt that if his usage of "Unique" was a touchable item he would've spit on it and sent it to hell--"And well, when he came to us he made us an offer we couldn't refuse."**

"**What crap did you accept from this idiot?" Alex snapped.**

"**Carter," Geiger dabbed at his eyes, "would you please tell him what our reward is?"**

**Carter stayed her ground away from Geiger, her tanned cheek was flaring red strips from where he had lashed out at her, his finger imprints were embedding in like a scar. She looked at Geiger and then at Alex. At first Alex thought she was going to refuse, she was going to say something smart like she had at Power Point…but when she bean speaking he realized that here Scorpia had broken her. Her spirit. She killed with a blank expression, her finger would pull the trigger without hesitation, she would act as the guinea pig they had made her. **

"**Talroz is paying us eight hundred, fifty million dollars. One-fourth in diamonds, one-fourth in weaponry, one-fourth in gold, and the last fourth in silver." her voice has been icy steel that sounded like it could break into a million small shards of ice. But when she straightened and looked Alex straight in the eye he realized that she had already broke. The guilt was gone, in its place was the bland expression of someone whose mind and free will was dead. **

"**And what the heck is he paying you for?" Alex pursued the questions for one reason, they involved Carter, and what he had said was true. She was murderer, but she was still a person. **

"**Their soldiers are dying." Geiger said in a matter-of-fact tone that annoyed the crap out of Alex, "The living conditions in which they reside is too…infected. They were plagued with the Black Fever a few months back and haven't been able to get any of the country quarantined of it. Because of that their soldiers are weak and unable to go into the battlefield. **

"**They are hunting their enemies but by the Black Fever they are practically being hunted.**

"**When they found us they asked us to do one thing for them: to make an invincible soldier."**

"**There's no such thing." Alex stated, "Everything dies. That's it. No matter what you do we all get weak and die. Sickness or no sickness. Young or old." as he said his words he vaguely remembered when he had been sent on his first mission in March, when Sayle had gotten him tied to a chair and had told him, "You're never too young to die." Funny how he was practically quoting his old enemy. He realized then that that **_**had **_**been his **_**first **_**mission. Sayle was his **_**first**_** enemy. That one choice he had made so many months ago had led to his clone disaster in Point Blanc, that strange issue with the Russian General Alexei Sarov in **_**Kayo Esceleto, **_**Sabina's move and Gregorovich's death when he had been dealing with the operation Eagle Strike, the first time he had met Scorpia, the battle in space near the first Spatial Hotel Ark Angel…Ash's death with the Snakeheads…and finally this. Another betrayal. **

"**You speak the truth, Alex," Geiger agreed. He slowly picked up Carter's knife that had been given to her by MI6 and twirled it in his hands, placing the handkerchief on his lap, "nothing on earth can stop the process of aging, or the fact of how we get sick. Everyone knows that. **

"**We didn't make an immortal, Alex. We made a special liquid though that we have been trying to complete for years that allows the skin to be…immune to damage."**

**Alex stopped shifting in his chair then. He remembered when Carter had cut herself on the bar grate when they had gone to lunch and she had fainted, her wound had healed without hesitation. But hadn't it been CIA? The pills? It couldn't be true.**

"**You're bluffing." Alex accused, "Scorpia doesn't have enough brain cells to make Kool-Aid."**

**Geiger chuckled let out a huff that showed he was laughing quietly. He bounced the dagger in his hand, holding onto the silver, black-lace wrapped hilt tightly. He held still for a moment but then threw the knife. **

**It flew in midair, seemingly towards the bookshelf; it glinted in the lights of the room and made it shine like a mirror. **

**But suddenly there was a meaty **_**thwack!**_** and Carter fell to the ground on her knees. Geiger's handkerchief had left his lap from his movement and as it landed by Carter it was forced down by a spatter of blood that darkened it instantly. **

**Alex tried to leap from his seat to only have the two guards grab his shoulders and shove him down further into the wooden chair although he had reached the limit. His face was flaring with the rage he felt for Geiger at the moment. He wanted to grab him by the collar and hurl him and his expensive suit out the window that was beside him. The idiot had stabbed his own assassin! He had stabbed Carter!**

**He was breathing hard from where he attempted to struggle out of the seats and he could feel his wrists burn as they twisted and turned in the ropes. **

**Carter was bending so far down that her forehead was touching the ground, her arms were wrapped around her tightly, her back heaving from where she was trying to catch her breath. Blood was beginning to pool around her like a dark crimson pond, it was going through her fingers rapidly and sending its salty smell up into Alex. **

**She moved her hands around and Alex heard a moist pulling and a soft clatter as she pulled out the dagger and dropped it beside her bent legs. **

"**Carter…" Alex breathed the name. He began to yell, "What's the freak is the matter with you??" **

**Geiger smiled cockily and got off the desk's edge. He walked over to Carter, stepping in her blood casually, and grabbed her arm. He jerked her up and her head flew back. Her hair went to behind her ears and Alex could see the gash all too well. **

**The knife had left a wound three inches long and definitely more than five inches deep, her blood wasn't the bright red most scars usually bleed it was dark crimson that looked purplish instead of red. **

**Carter put her fingers at her shirt's hem and shakily pulled it up. She closed her eyes as she shifted her waist and pain lulled into her abs.**

**Alex almost gasped as he saw what happened. **

**The wound was sealing up, slowly the fibers of her skin were reattaching themselves like putty to its can. It reminded him of a zipper and how it slowly went up finally closing as it reached the top. In less than two minutes the wound was sealed and all that was left was the thin layer of blood on her abs. **

"**Do you still believe I am bluffing?" Geiger asked, his hand still grasping Carter's forearm. **

**When Alex stared at him with utter rage Carter snatched her hand away and pulled her shirt down. **

**Geiger smiled that cocky smile and began to walk over to him, "Cassandra was our first test subject. Once her heart stopped and we almost didn't get her back. But when she was revived we tested on her thirteen more times and finally the antidote was successful.**

"**All those people you saw coming in, they weren't tests. They were the actual thing. They were embodied in the liquid until it fused in their veins and took over their body. Their skin isn't quiet as soft as Cassandra's"--he brushed his fingers on her cheek, but all she did was slowly turn her head--"she was made special. The other's are made with skin that can be as taut as marble. It's cold, slick and ice-like. It can still be penetrated but it's difficult. Since you will die in possibly less than an hour I will tell you all their weakness.**

"**Metal. Swords, daggers, knives. Anything that is metallic can go through them, but still with difficulty beyond reason."**

**AS Geiger spoke Alex remembered when he and Carter had been down below the sewers, how that one guard with red hair and brown eyes that flashed green had attacked them and how Carter had grabbed her dagger and jutted it in him. Her plunge had been jagged and somehow reluctant, but as she knifed it further it seemed to grow easier. He kept the weakness as a mental note, one of the many he was gathering.**

"**So you're little toys aren't invincible." Alex stated, "They're crap. They can be destroyed and recycled--we can go green with them!" Alex added a sneer at the end of his sarcastic retort. **

**Geiger's lips formed a straight line when Alex had talked, his fingers had reached into his breast pocket on the suit and pulled out yet another handkerchief to dab his eyes with.**

"**Just like your Godfather." he said quietly, but whenever someone spoke of Ash it seemed to always echo around like a roar of a lion in a cave, "He was as smart-aleck as you. Unfortunately like you he couldn't sense the point of danger. He was killed and we will do what you're little MI6 did to him."**

**When the two buff guards and Tourniquet came over to him they grabbed him by the shoulders. Tourniquet had taken out his gun and pushed the barrel into the bottom of Alex's jaw.**

"**Sorry but this time there isn't a tranquilizer." he said. His voice was raspy and slick. He reminded Alex of a snake.**

**Suddenly a loud ringing was echoing around the room, flashing lights streaked the windows and mirrors. **

"**What in blasted--" Geiger got off the desk as five soldiers burst through the door, they were dressed in camouflage with rifles thrown across their shoulder. **

"**What's going on?" Geiger demanded. He hadn't said anything to Tourniquet about the angel pistol that was digging into Alex's skin.**

"**Sir," the closest soldier took three steps toward him, "The Ambassador is here, sir. He has requested to see you at this moment."**

"**What's with the blasted lights?!" Geiger snapped.**

**Alex turned his eyes back toward his desk and saw Carter popping her neck, her hand was twitching by her side. Her other had just slipped out from under the book shelf.**

**She huffed out a single airy chuckle. **

**They all turned to look at her. **

**Carter leaned against the shelf with her arms crossed. She put a hand to her lips and made her eyes large, "Oops." she made her voice sound like she was two years old, "My bad. I guess I hit the emergency button." she smiled wickedly at them then sneered.**

**Geiger reached her in three long strides and grabbed her by the back of her neck. She grabbed at his fingers as he wrenched her to Tourniquet's and Alex's side. She looked at Alex with solemn eyes then jerked her stare at Tourniquet. **

"**Once you've finished with him," Geiger held Carter tightly. The lights and sirens went off as he spoke, "this one needs to be taught who it is that she follows orders from."**

**Tourniquet grabbed Carter by the arm and jerked her to him, making her body press against his and making her hair swipe Alex on the cheek. **

"**My pleasure," Tourniquet put his face near hers and ran his hand down her lower back. **

**She jutted out her palms and shoved him back hard. She gritted her teeth as she wiped her shirt down.**

"**Basta--"**

"**Well, the ambassador's here, Rider," Geiger straightened his suit, smoothed back his white hair and took up his cane from hook beside the chair Alex had knocked over, "Unfortunately I won't be able to witness your end. This matter is very important. Tourniquet will make sure that you **_**disappear without a trace. **_**A trace that you were here, not pain." he jabbed the end of the cane into Alex's side, "Good-bye, Alex."**

**The soldiers filed into a line and Geiger passed them, leaning on his cane as he walked out. **

**Tourniquet kept his gun in Alex's jaw and grasped his arm from Embry. **

"**Come on," he commanded, "Scorpia doesn't want you to die quickly. You've caused too much to go peacefully."**

**He began to wrench him towards the door. The soldiers had filed out and it was only Tourniquet, the two guards, Carter and Alex. **

**Alex began to wrench his hand away and kicked at Tourniquet's stomach. Of course Tourniquet didn't miss the blow, it hit him square in the gut and his gun flew upward. His finger had hit the trigger and the bullet flew out with incredible speed, smashing into the large chandelier that Alex hadn't noticed was in the room. Glass rained down on them and Alex thought of it as a way to escape. He hadn't taken a step forward when a sharp kick got him in the knees and he was falling. He sprung out his hands to catch his fall but something on the ground came flying at him and it cut both his arms, causing them to double and him to slid on his chest. **

**His side was burning now, the pain beating into him. He grasped at his side and bit his tongue to hold back the curses that were building up in him. **

**Tourniquet rolled him over and Alex had suspected that it was him that had kicked him to the floor. But instead he found Carter standing beside him, her hair shining with shards of glass and her high-heeled stiletto boot near his heaving side. She just stood there as Tourniquet snatched him up and slammed him into the wall. **

"**That was a stupid move for a smart-ass kid," he said as he grabbed at Alex's throat, "Next time plan your escape when someone that's better than you at your own game isn't here."**

**Alex looked from Tourniquet to Carter. She was looking at him with a cringed face that could only mean she was ashamed. **

"**But there won't be a next time, will there?" Tourniquet slammed the gun's handle into Alex's stomach and he doubled over coughing. He could feel the blood that was speckling his lips again.**

"**Get him in Sub Level one," Tourniquet commanded, "That's where Geiger commanded he be." **

**Embry and the other guard grabbed Alex's arms and straightened him forcefully. Alex's vision was beginning to blur again as the spots came back into view. His body felt bruised and battled, his chest and sides were beginning to burn with pain. **

**As the men began to drag him out, Carter went running towards him. **

"**Alex!" she put her hands on his shoulder and looked at him guiltily, "Alex…I'm sorry." she put her other hand on the side of his face, "It wasn't a lie. It was true. What I said about my feelings were true. I love you."**

**Alex jerked his face out of her palm and stared at her with rage. **

**She recoiled like a hurt snake. **

"**Pick a freaking side, Carter." he snapped, "You're not doing anyone a favor by sitting on the fence. You can't kill the enemy then apologize to him for it."**

**When Carter took a step back her hand knocked over a book near the desk and several of her gadgets, her face was in a cringe that made it look like she had just been slapped--which ironically considering the bruises that were beginning to fade wasn't a lie.**

**Alex turned his face away from her before she could tell him anything and before he could say anything else to her. His lips burned with what he just told her and inside he had more that he wanted to snap.**

"**Move, lard!" Embry shoved him in his lower back and Alex stumbled out, the other guard's hand still twisted over his arm. **

**He tried to straighten when they left and had no problem when Tourniquet came over to him and grasped him by his hair. He twisted the locks to where Alex had to look at him, no matter what. **

"**Black." Tourniquet sneered, "Thought that we couldn't see through MI6's little disguises, did you?"**

"**I could've come in nothing but underwear and you wouldn't have noticed me." Alex retorted, "You're grasping me this time 'cause you actually have someone with a brain on your side."**

**Tourniquet twisted his hair harder and Alex held back the scream he wanted to let out. **

"**You would do well to keep that trap hole of yours shut--"**

"**And you'd do well with you're head in water for twenty minutes."**

**Tourniquet yanked down his hair and threw him onto the floor. Alex rolled until he came to a skidded stop near some steps, her wrapped his arm around his waist and found that the bandage was in pure strips that were about to come off. He pulled a strand and found it led to two more and a strip dissolved in front of him. **

_**Darn. **_

**For the last time the two guards grabbed his arms and began to lead him down the stairs. **

**Alex didn't walk down but rather trip over the stairs, the guards were at the least six foot eight and Alex was almost a foot shorter than them. Tourniquet rammed his gun into his back and Alex winced. **

**He looked back and saw only Geiger's assistant and not Carter. She was still at the top of the gray staircase with a hand on the rail and another behind her back, grasping something. **

**He took his eyes off her as they turned a corner and began going down another series of stairs. **

**They passed dozens of soldiers on their way down the labyrinth of stairs and each of them had the expression that made them look dumbfounded. **

**A kid? Is that why the sirens had gone off? A kid?**

**One soldier turned and stared at the black haired, bloody boy that was being dragged by Geiger's men brutally. He seemed no older than fourteen, no older than a youngling. Surely it was a mistake. As they disappeared into the shadows of yet another staircase the soldier was tempted to follow them, he knew what reward would happen if he did. He would be put in the Sub Level Negative 3. One of the worst places to live or breathe in. But it seemed to escape his mind as a young girl in all black came walking down the stairs with her shoulders thrown back and her face taut. **

**He recognized her at once. Geiger's assistant Black Magician. No one knew her name, no one knew who she was or anything about her. Except she killed so quickly and left such little evidence that it seemed like magic. Another was that she wasn't American, although she looked it. She was something from Central America or maybe even Middle Eastern. **

**Her black hair was billowing around in the air as she walked down furiously and her jaw tightened as she commanded through gritted teeth, "What the heck are you all doing?! Get up there! The ambassador if Afghanistan is up there with Geiger speaking of what to do with you." she grabbed one soldier by the arm and shoved him quicker up the stairs, "I suggest you get up there **_**now.**_**"**

**One of the soldiers turned and stopped in front of her. He wouldn't take orders from a woman.**

"**Who are you to speak to us in that tone?" he questioned stupidly. The first soldier, Justin, knew it wouldn't end well.**

**Black Magician cocked her head sideways, her shiny black locks bouncing in mock defiance. "Excuse me?" she asked in the lightest tone ever that it seemed to hang in the air. **

"**You're what, thirteen? Welch, you ought to be upstairs being Geiger's little toy!"**

**Justin turned his head away from the scene that was happening between his comrade, Brett, and Magician. **

**She straightened her head and whispered, her voice like a snake, "Actually. I'm fifteen.**

"**And I'm demanding because…" her hand flew out so quickly it was a blur, "I have the magic stick."**

**She fired a silent shot at his chest quickly and Brett went flying across the room. He hit the cement wall behind him and grasped at his chest. He lay there with his fingers clutching at the blood that was pouring out of him. **

"**Anyone else wish to insult me?" she pointed the gun upward and kept it near her head. **

**No one moved, no one breathed. **

"**Then I suggest you begin moving UPWARD!" Carter threw off the silencer that was on the barrel of the angel pistol and fired another shot that hit Brett in the head and killed him instantly. The shot seemed to bounce off the walls like a warning echo. It had resonated in the soldiers head loudly and they began to practically run up the stairs as she stood there with her gun loaded, her finger itching at the trigger. **

**As Justin went upwards, he looked behind and saw that Magician had turned around and her hand was shaking with the gun. **

**Eight stories below, Alex had heard the second shot that had been fired and didn't want to think of what it had been for. **

**Instead he focused on exactly where they were going. He realized then that Sub Level 1 was possibly what it sounded like, sub-like. His ears were popping as they continued downwards, plummeting into the earth. He had counted the staircases they had gone down and as they descended another found the total was eighteen. The wound and wound like a spiral and as they continued he began feeling a pressure around his head and less oxygen down here. He noticed Tourniquet's cigarette had gone out. **

"**Sub Level Zero, sir." the second guard said roughly. **

**Tourniquet whispered into Alex's ear and he could've sworn it sounded like Voldemort from Harry Potter, "One more and it's all over."**

**Alex continued to trip over every step, but finally he could feel the step and discovered it was slick but rough, like salt on silk.**

**Two minutes passed by and finally Embry said, "Sub…" he coughed and gasped for air for a second, "Sub Level One, sir."**

**Alex could feel his own lungs tightening and found it harder to breathe down here. **

"**Get him in there and let's leave." Tourniquet stepped away from them and stood on the staircase. **

**After that they had shoved him in and pushed him to the ground. Alex almost yelled as his back had rasped across the salt-laced stone walls and possibly opened another wound on him. **

**They jerked his hands about and pushed them to the floor, cold metal clamps were placed on his wrist and locked. **

**They close the gate that stood as a door and locked it. Tourniquet took the key and placed it on the floor, took out his gun and shot it. The brass skeleton key shattered into fifteen pieces. **

"**Oops." he said, "My bad."**

**They turned their backs on him and left with out a second glance.**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Two hours had passed since then. Alex's wrists were bleeding tremendously now and burned with a fire he thought was real. His legs hurt from not being able to walk. He didn't have the privilege of pacing or even bouncing his legs. His head felt foggy and painful, like someone had their hands on the sides and was pressing in really hard. His breaths were as shallow as possible but even so he felt like he was going to suffocate. **

**Two hours. What time was it? Two? Three? It was well after midnight.**

**He tried to see the Pros and Cons of this situation--if there were any, which he highly doubted.**

**Pro: Scorpia hadn't killed him. **

**Con: He knew why.**

**Pro: He had admitted his feelings to Carter just six hours ago.**

**Con: She had betrayed him four hours ago.**

**Con: the shipment was probably out already.**

**Con: Scorpia hadn't killed him with a gun but he was pretty sure that he was going to die in this stupid cell that could've belonged in a Grimm Brother's fairytale.**

**He put his head against the wall. **

**Two soft bangs sounded from upstairs, it was loud at the top but as it reached Alex, Seventy feet below Geiger's office, it was soft as a whisper. **

_**Gun shots. **_**he had heard one when they were bringing him below, two more forty-five minutes later, and now he heard two more. **

**Were the soldiers rejecting the Change? Were they turning back into their normal selves again?**

**Alex shifted his left leg to lay on the ground and the other was still tucked to his chest. It was as much movement as he was guaranteed. **

**He closed his eyes and tried to not think, he just wanted his mind to be as numb as his back, legs, and side. He didn't want to think about anything. Just absolute nothingness. **

…**but he wouldn't get his desires.**

**every time he closed his eyes he kept seeing Carter, bending over with the dagger stuck in her stomach. He kept seeing her eyes when she had walked in and seen him, when her betrayal was announced. Her eyes were the most gorgeous things about her…they had never seemed so dark, so dead. **

_**Stop it, **_**he told himself, **_**stop thinking about her. She betrayed you. She isn't who she said she is. She isn't the girl CIA hired! She's not! No, no, no. **_

**But then he felt his cheeks burn from where she had touched him, where she had held his face and told him, "…It wasn't a lie…I love you…"**

_**How could she love me? How can I believe her? She's the one who turned me, she almost got me killed and now she's the reason I'm going to die here.**_

_**She had to be lying. She couldn't have been telling the truth. **_

**He sighed quietly as he sat there, chained to the cold slick floor. **

**MI6 and CIA had gotten betrayed too. They had put their confidence in her and she had practically thrown it back in their faces. They had been looking for the Black Magician, they never knew that the Magician had been right there--in their office, in their presence. **

**They would probably never know. He knew what she was going to do. IF she had truly betrayed him and the government then she would return to CIA, she would tell them that the mission had gone wrong, he had been killed and she had barely escaped with her life. She would keep feeding Scorpia their information, she would get other agents killed, she would kill innocent people with a sullen look that held nothing but blankness. If she had truly betrayed them.**

**But…but what if she hadn't? He had seen the look of remorse tinting her eyes like a slick ice layer. It had thinned but it was still there. She had screamed for them to stop hurting him, she had cried when she saw him…she had held his face and said that it wasn't a lie. **

**He squeezed his eyes as he felt a thick wet feeling in them. When he opened them his vision was blurry. So he stared up at the ceiling and refused to let the tears that were about to spill over not. **

**There was a soft rumbling that vibrated the little cell and caused the loose pieces of thin rock from the ceiling to fall and hit him. The dust from the walls began falling and Alex accidentally inhaled some. **

_**Darn! **_**he thought. He shook his head and tried to get the stones off of his head and coughed as he tried to empty the dust from his mouth. **

**That had happened twice in the past hour. This marked the third time. He didn't know what it was, an explosion? Something falling? **

**He shifted his other leg to take the same position he had except reverse way. **

**For those past two hours that he had thought of everything that happened, he had also thought of a way to escape. But he couldn't find a single way! If he had his gadgets he'd be out of there quickly, but he didn't. If he could wriggle out of the chains he was in he could attempt to break down the door, but he couldn't. **

**With a futile third attempt he moved his arms up, his wrists and chains leaving the floor by an inch. He pulled hard to get out of the rusted blasted until he felt a sharp pain near the top of his hands and felt the trickle of blood down his fingers. **

_**Blast! **_**he had cut himself again. He remembered how MI6 had placed fake scars across his wrists that looked very real. They would need no need of that ever again. But he wouldn't see them ever again. Because for once he had failed. Scorpia had beaten him. **

_**Don't stop climbing until you've run out of rope. Don't give up until you know that everything that you've worked for is no more. But even then you don't give up! No blood member of mine is going to give up.**_

**Alex remembered his uncle's words clearly. His mind was fuzzy though and he couldn't remember when he had told him that. He only remembered Ian's expression of bravery and how Alex's tired hands were pulling up a rope, his knees were banging on rock and his palms were scraped. Rock climbing? Mountain climbing?**

**But he knew that Ian's words were true this time. He shouldn't give up until he knew everything that could help was out of reach….it was. His only ally wasn't an ally, she was the enemy. His weapons were gone, his rope had reached its end. **

_**I'm sorry, Uncle. **_

**He closed his eyes again. **

**He just wanted to sleep. He felt so blasted tired. His limbs were begging for rest and his eyes felt heavy. **

**He would just sleep for a minute or two. Yeah his vision was blurry, his breathing was feeling weak and he could feel his pulse radiating throughout him. **_**Bup…bup…bup…bup. **_**It was weak and very…what was that word? Dangerous? Fatal? **

**He couldn't even think. **

**He wanted sleep…precious sleep…he didn't care whether he woke up again. He wanted to run away from everything that was going on now. Every pain, every hurting moment. If he could just sleep…it would leave for a moment…Just sleep…rest…sleep…**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Geiger stood at the window of his clattered office, he looked out at his "concoction" proudly…arrogantly. **

**It was all ready. The shipment was ready to go. **

"**Geiger!" a rough foreign voice echoed into the room. **

**Geiger turned around slowly, a smile spreading on his old, wrinkled, pale face. **

"**Yes, Ambassador Talroz?" **

**The ambassador walked into the office but stopped midway as he stepped in broken glass that crunched under his soft shoes. **

**Talroz was dressed in dark blue silk robes that wrapped around him gracefully. It was woven of pure rare silk that grew in the fields of the king of Afghanistan. The king had been so gracious as to have his beautiful maidens weave the robe especially for him. At his waist he had a thick belt that was made of the same silk but was instead gold and black, it wrapped around him once and allowed all the simple insignias on it to shine in the light when it was near any. **

**Talroz's hair was pure black, but no one could tell because of the black turban over it. His face was clean shaved other than the small goatee he had under his chin, his dark eyes scanned the room edgily and he almost seemed to blend in with his dark ebony skin.**

**Geiger walked over to him, stepping casually over the glass as if it had always been there.**

"**Forgive me Ambassador," he said, "my assistants had some difficulties with one of our enemies in here and I suppose it got out of hand." **

**Talroz snapped his fingers and a short man in a silver robe and white turban came to his side. **

**Talroz began telling him something in his native tongue then the short man straightened and said, "He says that it is quiet understandable but does this enemy have anything that would stray the shipment of soldiers to Afghanistan?"**

"**Of course not." Geiger chimed, "My assistant Cassandra has been working with him for the past month and unfortunately we have had to dispose of him."**

**The little man spoke quietly to Talroz, translating everything that Geiger had just told him. **

"**The shipment will be out in the hour." Geiger announced, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was two forty-five. **

**The man continued translating and Talroz straightened. He held his head high as he spoke foreign words and then continued to look at Geiger as his translator spoke, "He said that we will not be here to see the shipment leave himself for he is returning to his country this very moment. But by the morning he is expecting to see the shipment march out into the land and destroy the German's that have been infesting Afghanistan."**

**Geiger nodded, "Powerful words that will be fulfilled. I give you my word that they will be there." Geiger fisted his hand and put it across his chest. **

**Talroz nodded and did the same. They both have a slight bow and soon Talroz, his translator and the six Afghan soldiers that had come with him left. Their feet crunching the glass as they left the room and descended on the stairs. **

**Geiger kicked at a piece of glass and huffed.**

"**Cassandra," he called loudly. **

**At first there was nothing but then he heard the soft clicking of heels on the floor. **

**Carter came to the door and leaned against its frame.**

"**What?" she snapped.**

**Geiger tsked his tongue, "Now, Cassandra, are you still upset over what happened with that boy?" he walked towards her. **

**Her eyes went like ice, they went as hard as steel.**

"**His name's Alex," she said through gritted teeth. **

"**I told you to not get attached to your partners." he stood in front of as she slouched against the frame. **

"**I didn't." she cocked her head, "I just think you should respect the dead."**

**He lifted his eyebrows, "Do I? So he is dead?"**

**Carter straightened and put her head straight, "That Travis person was in Sub Level negative 2, he died after thirty minutes. Rider is in 1..." her voice took a soft tone, "it's been two hours."**

**Geiger smiled, "Yes. I forgot. Very well." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark golden skeleton key, "Have the guard Da'ae go with you down into the cell and take out the body. **

"**MI6 will be receiving a gift of appreciation from us." he tossed the key to her and she caught it with a swift movement of her hand.**

"**I'll get Tourniquet to go with Da'ae." she turned around to walk away when he said, "No. You and Da'ae will go."**

**Carter stopped, "Why can't Tourniquet--"**

"**Because I need proof."**

"**That he's dead??"**

"**That you aren't attached."**

"**Why do you care?" **

"**I can't afford to have my assassins broken."**

**She scoffed, her eyes were shining with a layer of wetness, "You broke me when I shot Sam with Black Eclipse."**

**She walked away before he could say anything to her. **

**Geiger smiled and turned back to the window.**

**It was almost done.**

**And Rider was dead. **

**He smiled as he poured some scotch into a small wide glass of ice.**

**He could see the large metal container that was being lowered from the helicopter above onto the gravel-filled ground. **

**Three files of soldiers began walking in percussion then stopped as the containers doors were opened. **

**One hundred and twenty-five soldiers marched into the container and turned to face the door. Then it was closed and specially qualified technicians came and began welding the sides, the metal glowed a fiery orange as it was heated. **

**One by one the containers were being lowered and slowly filled.**

**All two thousand soldiers would be in those containers, they would all be sent at the same time and soon Scorpia would be given their reward.**

**Geiger's teeth gleamed white in the light as he smiled yet again. **

_**Perfect.**_

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Alex's eyes flashed open as he heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the ever-long winding stone stairs that led to the inside of this pit. He had fallen asleep for what seemed five minutes. His eyelids felt heavy and he couldn't breathe too well now. **

**He had fallen asleep in a slumped position that had made his hair come to the front and dangle in front of his eyes like a veil, he could see the bottom of the gate that let him see some of the staircase.**

**He didn't move as the footsteps came closer. They sounded maybe ten feet up.**

**Finally the two people reached the bottom of the stairs and Alex imagined them belonging to a large burly man.**

"**Ma'am, if you don't mind my asking," his accent sounded foreign to Alex somewhat country but still somewhat upper class, "why'd you bring the extra clothes? I don't believe that the boy's alive…"**

**So they thought he was dead now? What were they bringing him clothes to dress him for his funeral? Scorpia wasn't that caring, a bat had more caring senses than they could ever have.**

"**Just open the door, Da'ae," **

**The velvet voice hit Alex's mind like a wrecking ball, a battering ram. It was like cold water being thrown onto him, it knocked his senses haywire and more than ever he wanted to look up. But when he heard it everything rushed to his head so fast it made him dizzy and made his stomach churn.**

**He heard a faint clinking sound that sounded like a lock springing--but Tourniquet had gotten rid of the key right?--and then the door creaking open. **

"**There you go miss--Aah!"**

**Da'ae's voice was cut off by a loud electric zap that pulsated throughout the air. It seemed to hiss strongly then died down. **

**Da'ae fell to the ground, but not before Carter's shoe kicked his head and turned him over, knocking him unconscious.**

**The door flew open and she ran inside. She threw herself onto the ground in front of Alex and shook his shoulders.**

"**Alex! Come on! Wake up!" her voice was filled with something of hope.**

**The dizzy feeling in his head was stronger than ever now and it took him what seemed like all his strength to look up at her. **

"**Carter?" his vision was blurry for a moment, but when her ebony face with gray eyes and crimson lips came into view it seemed to clear up almost instantly. **

**But even then the name seemed to have a strange taste in his mouth, it was sweet but also bitter. **

"**I'm so sorry, Alex," she flipped the key downward and reached for the lock on the chain, "I never thought--never meant for this to happen! I thought--" the lock sprang.**

"**What're you doing, Carter?" Alex stared into her face through the veil of thin hair that still laced his face.**

**He knew that he was supposed to feel angry, in parts of his mind he wanted to curse at Carter and tell her that she wasn't what he wanted that she should die. She had betrayed MI6 and CIA, she'd killed so many innocent men and that she should be in prison…but he couldn't. He couldn't find the will in him to let it out, he couldn't find the will in him to find that part of him that thought that.**

_**She's still Carter. **_

**Carter unlocked the other chain. She slowly opened it and slid them off, her eyes cringed at the sight of his raw wrists. Alex barely glanced at them as she did but couldn't look at them, he couldn't help but stare at Carter. **

**Like a band there was a thick part of his skin missing on his wrists. The place where the chains had been had rubbed it raw and had even cut one of his veins. They stung as the air hit them and seemed to pulsate with the blood that was still coming out of them. **

**She grabbed the squares of clothing that she'd placed beside them, dug out a thick roll of gauze and what seemed like ointment and placed them by her knees. **

**She rubbed the ointment onto her fingertips and gently rubbed it into the wound. **

**Alex tried to avoid all of crying out, the pain was lancing into him like a thousand daggers. It burned like lava, he practically felt his skin melting at her fingertips. **

"**I'm sorry…" she whispered. **

**Once the ointment was off her fingertips she grabbed the gauze, unrolled it, and began wrapping it tightly around his wrist. Going from the wound to under his knuckles. **

**She did the same to his other wrist and he felt like he was taking a thousand wounds at once. **

**Once she finished she began wrapping up the rest of the gauze and topped the ointment. **

"**What're you doing?" he asked.**

"**Putting up this stuff, what'd you--"**

"**What're you doing, Carter?" he repeated the question.**

**She looked up from her hands and stared into his eyes. Her gray eyes looked like glass that was about to break from the pressure of ice and all the remorse that was in them seemed to be filled with something he couldn't recognize. **

"**Picking a side," she finally said, her voice cracking. **

**She dropped the things and placed her hands in the back of his neck, her hands warm on his cold neck. She breathed hard as she put her face to his but finally she kissed him…**

…**and Alex couldn't hold back anymore.**

**Stinging and as painful as they were he raised his hands to her face, putting them at her temples and returned the kiss. **

**At first they didn't move, their lips barely moved. But soon his hands went down her neck and to her shoulders. Her lips seemed harder at the movement and she tangled her fingers into his locks. **

**He ran his hand down her back and passed her bottom, sliding his fingers down her thigh and passing up to the front of her small waist. A moan escaped the back of his throat as he slid his hand under her shirt and rubbed the soft skin of her back. He moved his hand from her face to the back of her neck and she leaned backwards as he moved his lips from hers and went down her neck, biting of the skin and feeling her moan as she did. Her hands tangled harder and then they passed from his hair to his shoulder, down his chest and onto his ribs. Her legs began to tangle around him bring her to sit directly on his thighs. He moved his hand from her shirt and traveled down her side, to her hip and underneath her leg. **

**Carter pushed him forward and turned his face upward and began kissing him with such a force on his neck he struggled to keep his grip on her. But he closed his eyes as thoughts rushed to his head. He gripped harder onto her as she bit his neck but it wasn't with anger, it was with passion. **

**The passion had exploded from where his false hope had turned to hope, she hadn't truly betrayed him, she was here, she was in his arms. **

**Her hands traveled down his naked chest as she kissed his lips once more but then she shifted her left leg and ended up stoking his wound. **

**Alex's scream was gurgled against her lips but when she retracted it came out clear. **

"**Oh Alex," she put her hands on his face again, "oh baby, I'm sorry! I forgot about your side!"**

**He chuckled, "So had I…" he looked down. There was a thin piece of the white bandage directly on the wound but nothing else, it was sticking to him by the wetness of the wound and by the blood that was still coming out. **

"**Here," she reached for the gauze and ointment again, "let me redress it." **

**She slowly got off his lap and shifted to sit beside him, she made him scoot up from sitting against the wall and began to pour the ointment into her hands, "This'll hurt a little bit." she told him softly, "But it'll help a lot."**

**Pricking off the piece of dirty bandage, Alex could feel the small layer of skin separate from the wound and make a stinging sensation erupt in his body that he wanted desperately to scratch. **

**She peeled it away and then began to smooth the ointment onto it, her fingers gentle like she were sculpting something. **

"**What made you change your mind?" Alex asked quietly, his hands balling into fists at the stinging that was in his side.**

**He smoothed over the ointment and began to grab the gauze, there wasn't much left but it would provide at least three layers that could go around his waist. **

"**Everything." she said, "You. Geiger. You. Tourniquet. Everything.**

"**I just figured out that, well, I've always been like this. I figured out that they broke me two years ago"--she began unrolling the gauze and wrapping it across his waist--"but…they didn't shatter me enough to not let me get pieced together again."**

"**What pieced you together?"**

"**You…in this mission you made me realize that I didn't have to follow their petty wishes. They may 'legally' own me but they'll never own my spirit. I guess you can say that…you set me free."**

**She wrapped it around him tightly three times and then tied it securely.**

"**Thanks." he told her placing his hand on hers.**

**She smiled and brought it up to her face, she was shaking as she said, "I'm sorry, Alex. I'm so sorry. I didn't know he was going to do all this to you…I didn't think he was going to torture you and I thought that when he said he was going to kill you that he was bluffing…I thought that maybe he'd spare you…" tears began brimming her gray eyes, making them appear bright with grief, "When I saw you against that wall in his office I-I just, I couldn't make myself say anything. I knew I had been the blame for all of this happening to you. I should've stopped it, I should've just killed him before any of this happened, I-I…" her words faded as Alex took her face in his hands and looked at her softly. **

"**There was nothing you could do, Carter." he told her, "You couldn't have avoided these"--he motioned at the scars, the wound, the bruises, his wrists--"he still would've found a way to lure me here. If you hadn't done what you did he would've killed you--"**

"**And maybe he should've. I almost got one of MI6's best agents killed, and already I've let one of the worst destructions let loose…"**

**Alex looked down at her more seriously, "What're you talking about?"**

"**Geiger. He has all two thousand soldiers ready. They're all being filed into metal containers that are gonna be sent to Afghanistan sometime."**

"**But they're being filled up right now?" **

"**Yeah, they're not gone. But there's no way we can get them to stay down here."**

**Alex looked over at the clothes then thought about how he and Carter had planted the bombs, but wait. Had she planted the bombs? He asked her.**

"**Yeah," she responded, "I just went along with it and placed them near the foundation. If they had been set off it would've shaken the foundation and caused the whole place to just go straight down."**

**He smiled.**

"**I've got an idea."**

**He quickly kissed her one more time and smiled. **

**Things or finally looking up…or rather down.**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**No one seemed to notice the Black Magician come up from Sub Level One with the soldier that had gone down with her. She held her head high and let arrogance lace it, the soldier behind her--Da'ae--kept his head down as he followed her. **

**They came out into the open and turned the corner. Traveling down a labyrinth of hallways and staircases that led them upward out of the Sub Levels. **

**People were scattering in all directions, men and women in laboratory coats and charts were frantically scurrying out of the way as the Black Magician strode the floors with an air of authority that surrounded her and awed others. She turned the corner and went past a door. **

**They went to a wall and she placed her hand on what seemed to be the painting of **_**The Mistress of Shakespeare. **_**Her hand went directly of the tresses of the red-haired lady and suddenly a green light pulsated three times. When she moved her hand her handprint stayed on the tresses then faded as a computerized voice announced, "Print recognized: Cassandra Luving. Assistant to Executive Chief of Boards Max Geiger."**

**The elevator doors hissed as they opened and the inside gleamed white, Magician and Da'ae stepped in and she pressed down on the button that said **_**28**_**. **

**They felt the lurch of the elevator as they went up and in less than three seconds they doors opened again and they were in a bright yellow floor. The walls were cream and the floor were tiled yellow and brown. **

**They walked out and Magician didn't bother asking for clearance as they descended the stairs that led to an office in the center of the walls. **

**Once up the stairs and at the door of Geiger's office, Magician turned and looked at Da'ae . **

"**Wait here," she told him sternly. The soldier planted his feet and stood by the door steadily, appearing like a statue. **

**Magician didn't bother knocking, she opened the door and walked in. **

**Swallowing the lump in her throat she said, "We got it done."**

**Geiger was standing by his desk once again with a glass of scotch in his hand. **

"**Where was the body sent to?" he asked coolly.**

"**We sent it the laboratories. They said that they would take care of…" her voice quivered and she didn't finish her sentence.**

**Geiger smiled. **

"**You've been trained well, Cassandra. You didn't get too attached this time. But I need you to do one more thing."**

"**And that is?" she snapped her usual smart-aleck attitude returning. **

"**I need you to make sure each of these soldiers are being placed in the containers securely. Any foul up that these technicians do could cause us the eight million dollar mistake."**

**Carter rolled her eyes, "Can't Tourniquet do it? I have more important things." she went by the bookcase and leaned again it.**

**Geiger was nervous, she could tell. Her "master" had a way about him that let others know he was weak in certain areas. All of the executives in Scorpia did. Geiger held his glass cup firmly and had she not been trained to notice the simple things that mattered most she wouldn't have noticed the small vibration that was sending the ice clinking from his shaking. **

"**You do?"**

"**Yes,"**

"**Please do explain your 'important things'." **

"**Well I need to change because obviously his blood got on me, I need a bath and--"**

"**Tourniquet will not be doing this.**

"**But--"**

"**No, buts. You are in charge of this and you would do well to remember who tells whom what to do."**

**Carter moved from the case and leaned against the wall, inspecting her nails, "Done with the lecture?"**

"**Very much so. Go down there and make sure what I have asked is being done."**

"**Whatever." she turned around quickly and slammed the door shut. **

**Outside Da'ae stood in the exact position she left him. **

"**To the back of the warehouses," she told him, "Geiger needs us to scout and make sure the stupid employees are actually working."**

**She walked down the staircase and they both went back into the elevator. **

**It hissed open again and she pressed two buttons, one said **__**and the other said **_**W.H. **_

"**What's W.H.?" Da'ae asked. He flipped off his cap and wrapped his arms around Magician. **

**No one in the right mind would attempt to do this, it was Magician. Everyone would've said Da'ae had lost his mind…had he not been downstairs in Sub Level One unconscious. No one had noticed Alex walk behind Carter as they went in the curves and turns of Scorpia. **

**The extra clothes that Carter had brought was a uniform that fit Alex perfectly. It consisted of black cargo pants, a cap, and a black button shirt that had a name tag and picture of Da'ae. Had anyone actually paid attention they would've noticed that the thirty-nine year-old face in the picture did not match the fourteen year-old face on the guard. But that's what Carter and he were counting on. Everyone was worried and nervous about the departure of the Soldiers, they were finalizing the charts and making sure no harm would come to the containers that they were being delivered in. Even Geiger was nervous. **

"**Warehouse," Carter said, holding his hands in hers which were at her abs. **

**Instead of up the elevator lurched forward, making them stumble straight two steps.**

"**It has to go under a couple of stuff to go back up," she explained and then it lurched up.**

**He smelled her hair, "You smell good." **

"**Thanks. I may be an assassin but that's no reason to forget hygiene."**

"**Of course," he kissed her temple then went down the side of her neck, "Did you get them?" he asked, his face in her hair. **

"**Of course." she moved her hand and reached into her shirt. Out she pulled two iPod--one black one purple--a brass ring, two pairs of sunshades, and two small camera spheres. **

"**I knew I loved you for a reason." he teased. **

**Carter smiled and held his hands tighter.**

**When she had stood by the bookcase and Geiger had looked down to drink his scotch, she had moved everyone of the gadgets into her hands, and when she stamped away she had shoved them down her blouse quickly. On the sides of her belt, were four wrapped objects that no one could see but only she and Alex knew. The detonators.**

"**Here," she turned in his arms and handed him his gadgets, "we're almost up there."**

**Alex put the camera sphere and sunshades in his pockets, slipped the brass knuckle on and bounced the iPod in his hand. **

"**Ready?" he asked, smiling a cocky grin that made him look like a total bad boy.**

"**Always." she put her iPod and camera sphere in her shirt and hung the sunshades on the side of her pants. **

**Alex nodded and pressed down on the skip button for ten seconds.**

**At first nothing happened but then the screen flashed blue, red, then green. Suddenly a face appeared on the screen and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. The transmission actually worked this time. **

**Mrs. Jones was slipping a peppermint into her mouth when she saw that Alex's image had flashed on her computer. **

"**Alex?" she said, her black hair bouncing oddly as her features scrunched. **

"**Mrs. Jones," he said, "we need MI6 here now."**

"**But Alex--"**

"**Yo, lady," Carter took the iPod, "listen we ignored your 'Find evidence' blah-crap and decided to look further into this Scorpia thing and figured out that there's no way in heck that we can get out of here." Alex loved the sarcasm Carter was putting in her voice, "Well I mean there is one way but it requires us to be"--she pointed her index finger to her head and lifted her thumb upward--"you know--pow!" **

"**Mrs. Jones," Alex took back the iPod, "we need you to send as many of MI6 down here as possible. Scorpia isn't dealing with drugs--they made a new experiment named Invincible Soldier and they're shipping it out tonight."**

"**Do you know what--?" Mrs. Jones tried to speak again but Carter interrupted **_**again.**_

"**Lady, it's us. We know. Pretty much Geiger said that he sending the can't-get-hurt-because-their-skin-heals-really-quickly-soldiers to Afghanistan at the request of the ambassador. He's sending them out tonight and it's happening right now."**

**Mrs. Jones was silent for a moment but then said, "I'm sending twenty men you're way--"**

"**Nu-uh," Carter shook her, "nope. That won't do. Send at the least a hundred."**

"**Cass--"**

"**Just do it!" she snapped, "I know what they're planning and I'm telling you that you're gonna need a hundred men down here."**

"**How do you--?"**

"**We'll explain later." Carter and Alex said in unison. They looked at each other and smiled quickly. **

"**Fine. We'll be there in the hour." Mrs. Jones was obviously not amused by Carter's bossing her around. **

"**Please be quick, Mrs. Jones," Alex asked, "I'm afraid an hour is too long."**

**Mrs. Jones was already shuffling around her office and pressing buttons that sent a siren yelling "CODE BLUE, CODE BLUE".**

"**Please be careful, Alex," she pleaded.**

"**We'll distract them until you get here." he told her, "You guys just need to make sure that those soldiers **_**don't get shipped.**_**"**

**He pressed the button again and the screen flashed black. **

**Just then the doors began hissing open.**

"**Put on your cap," Carter said, straightening herself. **

**He slipped it on and pulled her face quickly to his. "I love you, you know that?" he kissed her.**

"**I love you more," she said against his lips. **

**The doors opened. **

**Carter walked out first and into the warehouse plateau. **

**Alex looked behind him and saw that the elevator was actually one of the warehouses that had no doors. The elevator's doors closed again and camouflaged itself with the lines of the walls. **

"**Do we separate?" Carter asked under her breath. **

"**Yeah," Alex replied in the same low tone, "get all the containers at the left, I'll get the ones at the right."**

"**You still have the cherries right?" she asked.**

"**Yeah," he patted his pockets.**

"**I'll see when this is all over." she gripped his hand and then left to the left, where three containers were slowly being lowered onto the ground, yelling out, "Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing!? No, no, no I don't want to hear the stupid-butt excuses! Just get those freakin containers over there--NO OVER THERE! NO!! RIGHT! THE OTHER WAY!!!"**

**Alex turned and began jogging over to the right containers. They had been lowered successfully and were being opened slowly. Three helicopters flew steadily above him, had he not put his hand on his cap it would've flown off. **

"**Hey!" he called to the nearest guard that wore the same uniform as he. The guard was holding a chart and looked back at him, a question mark writhing on his face.**

"**Geiger instructed me and a few o'er men to check those hooks that're holdin' da' containers. Jus' to make sure they're not gon' fall'."**

"**who are--?"**

"**Da'ae. Guard Da'ae."**

**The man checked his list and was aboutto say something but Alex cut him off, "It's a last minute check just to make sure--"**

"**That they won't fall off, yeah, yeah." the man squinted at him, "Aren't you a little young to work here?"**

"**Surgery." Alex lied, "Let me get on those real quick, 'kay." **

"**Well, I don't--"**

"**It's Geiger's orders."**

"**JUST LET ME GET ON THE STUPID THINGS!" **

**Carter's loud voice echoed all the way towards them, the guard turned and saw her climbing the container. She examined the hook and then jumped down. **

**When the guard saw that Magician had done what Alex was asking to do he immediately nodded and said, "Fine. Get on up there."**

**Alex nodded and went to the ladder on the side of the container. **

**He took the bar two by two and was up in four pulls and a high jump. **

**He ran to the middle of the container to the large metal hook that was holding it. The hook was at least three feet wide and no telling how thick, there was no way it was going to bust. **

**He pretended to check it, keeping his head down the entire time. **

**Geiger's office was in the tallest warehouse building and unfortunately the building was directly behind him. **

**Alex reached into his pocket quickly and then skimmed his hands on the metal. On it he left what he had pulled out of his pocket--a cherry bomb. It was as big as a half-dollar and it stuck on the metal perfectly. He pressed the center button twice. Twenty minutes, then pressed the side quickly. The numbers began blinking. 19:59, 19:58, 19:57...**

**He kicked the bottom of the hook and then went back to the ladder, sliding down the rails instead of climbing. **

"**Secure," he said then ran to the next container. **

**They had less than twenty minutes to get the containers bombed. Each bomb was at least ten seconds behind the other one, so technically they had fifteen minutes. **

**Alex didn't waste time telling the other four guards what he was doing, they seemed to get the picture with the first one and they let him climb up, "check the hooks" and come down quickly. **

**Alex was sweating when he reached the seventh container--he couldn't understand how all these helicopters could be so close together and not collide. Carter had given him a watch before they left and he checked it quickly, having to flip it over because it had turned upside down--he didn't tighten it 'cause of his wrists, they still burned and stung with every movement he let them make. He could already feel a wetness over them from where he was climbing and sliding. **

**Already twelve minutes had passed. **_**Three minutes. **_

**He clambered onto the next container and went to the hook. As he slapped the bomb down and set the timer, he looked past the warehouses and saw something that filled him with dread. **

**More helicopters came, ten were already coming toward the warehouses, each with a container. **

_**Dang. **_**he thought. He stared past them and saw that cars were beginning to pull in and some were even leaving. He looked past the cars, the helicopters and saw what he was looking for. **

**It was three miles away but it seemed to flicker like a fading candle. Power Point. The lights were dim and it wasn't anything but a dot now. A dot that glowed. He wondered what Tyler and Ed and Jay were doing? He bet they were looking for him and Carter frantically maybe they--**

"**Alex!" **

**Carter's shriek sprang his mind out of his daze and suddenly he felt a heat flush the back of his neck and shoulders.**

**The blast of the first and second cherry bomb was so strong that it made him slid down the container and he ended up having to jump. **

**When he landed he leapt up and grabbed Carter's hand, pressing the side buttons of the bombs and throwing them out at the containers and helicopters. **

**The bombs were exploding like fireworks, one after another. They filled the warehouses with a bright light and then Alex heard the sound of planes exploding. **

**The pilots had gotten startled from the sudden blasts underneath them and as the containers fell to the ground--toppling over to their sides--and wrenched their gears causing them to collide as they did.**

**Each plane engulfed in flames as it landed on the containers and joined the exploding hooks. **

**The bombs that were just thrown were going off and suddenly there was a fire everywhere. **

**Alex and Carter could hear the mechanics and technicians and guards screaming as the explosions went off around them, the hiss of wind as the helicopters and containers fell, and finally the gunshots that were going off from accidentally triggered guns. **

"**Come on!" Carter yelled, she dragged him to the side of warehouse near the fence, but when they reached there a helicopter came tumbling down and crushing the warehouses.**

"**SHI--"**

"**Over here!" Alex dragged her back to the place where the elevator had been, it was across from the sewer. **

**Alex crouched down beneath the sparking flames that were dancing around them and licking at them and unlatched the sewage top. He jumped in and grabbed Carter, making her tumble after him and land in his arms. **

**They didn't stop, they ran down the drains and down every series of stairs they could find. **

**Guards ran past them in a frenzy and yelled at others to find another route out. **

**Alex shoved one aside as they ran and finally came to the elevator Carter had shown him a few hours ago. **

**She shoved the button to the elevator and the doors hissed open.**

**Before it was fully opened they scrambled in and pressed **_**26**_**. **

**As the elevator descended, there was a quake that shook Alex and Carter vigorously, making them topple onto the floor. **

"**Think they're distracted enough?" Carter asked with a smile. **

"**If they're not--oh boy."**

**Finally the elevator stopped and the doors opened, they stepped out and found the halls flooding with people.**

"**Get this settled!" a man cried, "Find out who did this! Now!" it was Tourniquet, his face was twisted in anger and his voice contorted. **

**Alex and Carter went with the group that passed them to avoid anyone really paying attention to them, but somehow Tourniquet caught them in his sight. **

**He cocked his head at them curiously and Alex made the mistake of looking back at him. **

**Tourniquet straightened and yelled, "CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!" **

**Carter grabbed Alex and they ran down a hallway that seemed to pop out of nowhere. **

**They ran down the hall and slammed open a door. **

"**He figured it out," Alex said loudly as they went into a dank place that had nothing but wires and sparking electricity .**

"**What?" Carter slid under a rail as Alex jumped over it and they were into another room that was deeper but leading to the same place. **

**The laboratory that Geiger had had his soldiers "born" at.**

"**Tourniquet saw us and he figured it out!"**

"**How--?"**

"**He yelled code black."**

"**DARN IT!" Carter yelled. **

**She found another door and kicked it open, "He'll have told Geiger already and now they're looking for us!" **

"**How much farther?" Alex asked, going down another series of steps. **

"**One more minute,"**

**Suddenly he heard a muffled voice and realized it was from his pocket. **

**He picked up the iPod and saw Mrs. Jones face.**

**But she wasn't in her office, she seemed to be in the back of a helicopter. **

"**Alex!" she yelled, "Alex, we're here! Where in blazes are you and Cassandra?"**

"**Carter!" she yelled.**

"**Underground." he told her. **

"**Where exactly?" she asked, her eyes suddenly seemed distant to his and she was moving things around the screen that he couldn't see, "We're getting a scan of the building."**

"**About twenty seven floors down." he told her.**

"**Tell Cass--Carter to turn on her iPod. They each have trackers and we can find you easier like that."**

**He didn't even tell her because Carter had already gotten her iPod out and was drilling the laser into a wall they had come to. **

"**I see you," Mrs. Jones said, "We're coming down."**

"_**You're **_**coming down?" Alex knew that in all that was happening, surprised was probably the last feeling he should be experiencing. **

"**I work in the field every once and a while, Alex." she said with a wink, "We're coming. Keep traveling, we'll catch up."**

"**Got it!" Carter kicked in what she had been working on and they went through the hole. **

**Inside all the pipes and liquids were being jangled; Alex was more than relieved to see that Geiger and them hadn't cleared any of the bombs.**

**All his relief was gone when suddenly there was a small explosion and Tourniquet was standing by the metal door, two files of soldiers behind him. **

**His blonde hair was in a frenzy and his voice echoed in the air as he said two words, "Kill them."**

"**Oh, crap." Alex and Carter said in unison.**


	15. Falling In The Black

Okay now I know I said that this would be the last chapter but when I wrote it down first I realized that it was too big to fit into one thing. I'm not trying to pull a Christopher Paolini so I swear that in the next chapter it will be the last one and an epilogue.

Thanks for sticking around with me this long. Really it was the reviewers and critics that made me continue this story. Thanks for loving Carter and Alex. Xoxo, Millie.

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Alex didn't know how to take it, good or bad. The PROS and CONS were flooding into his head now.

PRO: Carter was on his side.

CON: Tourniquet found out.

PRO: MI6 was coming towards him, they were catching up to him quickly.

CON: Really-bad-non-getting-hurt soldiers were right in front of him, they didn't have to catch up.

"Kill them."

The soldiers took the two words as an order and--with frightening blank expressions--ran towards Carter and Alex.

Alex's first instinct was to lash out as the first one came, Carter's was to push him, shove the first one that came into contact then run with Alex towards the large tube that transformed the soldiers.

"Get them! Don't let them get away!" the soldiers ran faster towards them as they climbed up the boxes that were stacked and reached the wall's rim. Carter pulled herself up and helped Alex while the soldiers began retracing their route and climbed up after them.

"Bust that tube!" Carter told him, "I'm going after Tourniquet! If you get that tube busted the gases will leak and then we can run out of here and detonate the place."

"Let me go after--"

"No! I know Tourniquet! I know him too well. Just do as I say!"

Alex nodded once and made a strong leap, spreading out his arms as he rode in the air for a moment. He tucked in his long arms and landed on the tube with a crouch. It hadn't so much as cracked under his weight.

How the heck was he going to make it bust?

He turned around to see Carter running swiftly on the rim of the wall and then launch herself downward. Something flashed in her hand as she kicked Tourniquet in the head and threw him back.

She landed in a crouch and charged at him.

Tourniquet kicked at her head but she dodged it and swung her dagger, nicking him on the leg.

Tourniquet yelled out and snatched his gun, he held it up and fired. Carter bent backwards, her head almost touching the floor as he hands did. She lifted her legs after the bullet passed and flipped over, landing in a crouch that had her standing on her toes.

He fired another shot and she swung the dagger, making the bullet ricochet off it and bury itself into the wall, breaking a metal pipe.

Alex pressed down on the brass knuckle and then slammed it into the tube. Slowly it went in, like a spoon in very-thick, very-frozen ice cream. Once it went all the way inside he pulled it out quickly and kicked in the four holes.

The glass shattered in a jagged hole that was as big as his head and the fumes leaked out quickly.

As he stepped back something grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down, making him fall off the tube and crash into the boxes below. He fell into metal and glass and it all crushed underneath him.

A soldier grabbed his shoulder and threw him across the room, making him crash into a large metal object.

Alex yelled out as it caused pain to erupt into his side.

"Alex!" Carter whirled around to look at him.

Mistake number one.

Tourniquet took the distraction and launched himself at Carter, wrapping his arm around her neck and wrenching her arm backward, making her drop the dagger and buckle her legs.

"No!" Alex leapt up from the heap of metal and wires.

Tourniquet tightened his arm around Carter and began choking her.

Carter flailed her legs upward trying to gain leverage, but the tightening pressure that was going to her head wasn't allowing her to think to well. She slapped her free hand backwards and hit Tourniquet in the chest but all she could feel that she had even successfully slapped him was the lingering sting on the back of her hand.

"Did you really think"--Tourniquet whispered in her ear--"that going back with that boy and 'turning good' was actually going to work.

"You better be glad you're Geiger's little toy because if it were up to me you wouldn't survive the night. But he thinks you're still actually working."

"And if it were up to me," Carter wheezed, her voice was raspy now, "I would have quit spitting in my ear but it seems--"

Tourniquet tightened even more, "You're sarcasm is giving me a headache--"

"No I think that's just your face--" she coughed hard.

Her face felt hot and there were black and white spots in her vision.

"I…can't…I can't--" Carter swallowed the painful lump in her throat and felt her eyes start watering. She really couldn't breathe.

She knew that Geiger had told Tourniquet to not kill her, but Tourniquet never followed orders. He would kill her. He would kill her and say it was an accident.

Her vision was flickering now, the loud noises of the soldiers scrambling about was beginning to fade and sound more like a whisper.

Alex leapt onto Tourniquet's back, whipping up Carter's fallen dagger and stabbing it straight into his shoulder.

Tourniquet yelled out and dropped Carter and threw Alex over his head.

Alex rolled over on the ground once and stood up quickly, ramming into Tourniquet's side. Tourniquet fell onto the floor and Alex took the dagger out of his shoulder and bounced it in his hand.

Tourniquet looked up at him with a sneer.

"I don't kill," Alex said, turning around to go to Carter.

"You should learn, boy!" Tourniquet got up and charged at Alex.

"No!" Carter snatched the dagger from Alex's hand and raced in front of him.

Tourniquet didn't even notice her and thought he had run into Alex when the smooth cold metal penetrated his skin, burying into his stomach.

His face made a jerked blank expression and he crumpled to the ground. He fell in front of Carter and she pulled his face to hers.

"If it were up to me," she told him, "you would die."

Tourniquet put his hands to his stomach, feeling the hilt that was almost buried in his skin but also tightening over something else, and hunched over in a position Alex swore in his mind he was dead.

Carter knelt on the ground for a moment but then fell backwards.

"Carter!" Alex caught her before her head hit the floor and picked her up.

"I'm okay…" she whispered.

"No, you're not," he argued, beginning to pick her up.

"I can do it…"

"No you can't."

He almost fell as a blast of really hot air hit his back and scorched the hairs on his neck. AS he turned around he saw several people in black uniforms and bright white letters across their chests come rushing towards them.

_Come on! Not more!_

He thought it was more soldiers, but then he saw that the uniformed people were actually fighting against the Soldiers.

"What the--"

"Alex!" Mrs. Jones popped out from nowhere at his side.

Before he or the almost unconscious girl in his arms could say anything, she made him drop Carter and take her by one arm as she took her by the other and yelled, "Come on!"

They hobbled out of the laboratory while soldiers came and followed them, but several MI6 men ran towards them, raising the hand held pistols they had and fired bullets past their heads, embedding them into the Soldiers chests.

Several fell backwards but few just put their hands to their chests and kept running.

"Their throats!" Carter yelled, her voice was barely recognizable in the hoarseness it had, "shoot…their throats."

The men looked at Mrs. Jones and she gave a stiff nod.

"Ready!" the man in front yelled--Alex was more than surprised when he saw the face he hadn't seen in almost three months, it was Texas from ASIS!--"Aim for the throat! Fire!"

A shower of bullets rained back as Mrs. Jones, Alex and Carter went against the cold white wall that was soon splattered with the Soldier's blood like a painting.

The Soldiers all flew back and this time gave a shudder and were defeated.

"Go!" Mrs. Jones yelled and they began running up the hall again, Texas and his six of his men guarding them from behind.

"Wait." Carter gasped. Tourniquet's suffocating her drained a lot of her strength, her face was pale and barely regaining its color, her voice was finally losing its raspy tone, "You have to get those men out of there! Get the lab cleared. Alex and me set up bombs all down here and they're gonna go off in forty minutes."

Mrs. Jones' face twisted in something mixed between anger and surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, then opened it again--reminding Alex of a fish.

"Blast it!" she finally snapped, putting her finger to the earpiece in her ear and commanded, "Clear out! Section 3305 clear out! Explosives in there set to go off in exactly forty minutes--"

"Tell them to go up," Carter directed, "up to the warehouses and to get out of the plantation. It's gonna burn to the ground."

Mrs. Jones didn't hesitate, she began giving the orders.

That's when Alex realized the worst and the world began to move slowly.

"Carter," he pulled her and looked straight into her face, "Tourniquet's--"

"Dead--"

"No! He had a--"

The loud explosion that sounded fifty feet behind him finished the sentence for him.

When Tourniquet had doubled over he had gripped at the hilt of the dagger in him but also pressed down on something black and blinking. A detonator.

"No, no, no!!" Carter said under her breath, "The bombs!"

"I know…"

The bombs would go with the chain reaction and explode before they could get out.

"You said forty--" Mrs. Jones began to chastise but Carter got out of her grasp, gripped Alex's hand and ran forward. Texas, Mrs. Jones, and the men ran behind them.

She ran up a series of stairs and Alex recognized them at once. She was taking them up to the sewers.

As they reached the staircase the floor beneath them began to shake. Alex wrapped his arm around Carter and grabbed onto the wall to hold them up.

Mrs. Jones had a hold of the wall but Texas was still running. He came up beside Alex and yelled, "What're we doing?"

"Going up." he told him, they gradually started running up again, "The elevators are jammed so we're climbing up."

"We're not gonna make it," Texas told him, dodging a piece of falling rubble.

Darn! Alex stumbled over a strands of broken and sparking wires. The place was slowly crumbling to the ground.

"I know this place like the back of my hand." Carter told him, swerving on a sharp turn, "I'll get us out of here."

Alex knew at that moment they didn't need Carter to discover a new freckle of her backhand.

"Are the men cleared out?" Alex asked Texas.

Texas narrowed his blue eyes as he said, "Does it really matter now?"

As if to answer his question there was another explosion and it shook the ground more than ever.

Alex knew if any of the men had stayed in the laboratory they were dead. No man could survive all of the explosions. If they did they certainly wouldn't look human anymore.

They continued going up but the time seemed to freeze in place.

The ground beneath them was shaking so hard they could barely run at a steady pace. Distant explosions resonated off the walls, the stones and bricks were beginning to crumble around them raining like a hailstorm.

Alex saw the white hallway they were going to take, the lights were flickering, the paper walls were shaking and the floor tiles were beginning to crack away from the walls.

"If we can get inside," Carter was explaining, "Then I can access the shortcuts by my clearance. We--"

Alex shoved Carter behind him as a downpour of cement, brick, and stones came at the doorway of the hallway, piling rubble on top of rubble like sand in an hourglass.

"NO!" Carter shrieked as the last of the rubble ran down, "No, no, no, no!"

Alex felt the world crumble as he saw the wall cave in. Their way was blocked, there was no light streaming in. Their last route was blocked now. _No!_

"We have to go back!" Texas shouted.

"We can't," one of the men shouted back, "The fire is catching up to us."

Alex was holding Carter now, but her head was turning quickly as if looking for something. Alex turned his own head to looked back at the man was talking about, and his sight filled him with doubt that they were ever going to see the outside again.

There was an orange glow that pulsated on the walls emanating from the floor below and creeping up on the tight stairways. He could feel the tremendous heat that made him realize that they needed to get out…now.

"The top." Carter whispered, her words more to herself than for anyone else. But Alex heard them.

"What about it?" Alex looked down at her and then up at the pile of rubble that blocked their path. The top of it was mostly of loose cement and brick that could wither be pulled or shoved out. If they did that to it, it could make a hole large enough to fit even a man of 6' 4" .

"Come on," he pulled Carter's hand and she launched onto the rubble. Like a jittery squirrel she climbed up the tower of rubble, gripping onto the cement and whatnot as hand- and footholds. She was at the top before Alex reached the middle.

"What're you doing?" Mrs. Jones voice sounded directly under them as it snapped at their heels.

"The rubble's loose up here." Alex explained, his hands reaching past Carter's foot that was firmly planted on a slab of cement, "We can get it loose enough to make a hole--"

"--that'll be big enough to squeeze in Texas." Carter finished. Everything might've been dangerously close to its end but her sarcasm was still intact.

"How are you intending for me to take that?" Texas's was too. But his response was barely audible as another explosion sounded and shook the rubble.

Alex and Carter used it to their advantage and tore at the rocks with their fingers, throwing them to their sides and behind them. One almost Mrs. Jones and Alex was wondering if Carter was actually aiming for the raven-haired woman on purpose; he was about to if she didn't hush about their plan being absurd and that they should turn back.

_To the freakin' fire?!! You go right ahead and we'll all be happy!_ He wanted to shout at her, but instead he bit his tongue…and held his breath.

The smoke from the orange dancing flames behind them was beginning to thicken and crawl up his nose, the tendrils of smoke swerving around all of them.

Finally there was light from the small hole they had managed to make; a cool draft of air wafted in, blowing back the heavy smoke and washing away the heat for a second.

Alex thrust his elbow into the hole and knocked some of it forward. But even with that the hole barely fit his shoulders.

"It's not gonna work." he whispered, "We're not gonna be able to get out."

Carter pursed her lips and began feeling around the hole, like a blind person feeling the features of a person that they'd just been introduced to.

Still on the slab, Carter stood on the balls of her feet and wiped her backhand across her forehead, wiping aside the beads of hot sweat on there and on her eyebrow.

She smiled. "We will. Come on."

She jumped down and Alex followed.

"Can I borrow these?"--she snatched the pistols that were attached to Texas's and one of his men's belts--"Thanks." She turned them sideways and fired at the hole.

The shot was so quick Alex thought she didn't even aim and that she had missed when nothing happened. But as soon as the doubt had come into his head it left as soon as he realized the bullets had penetrated under the hole. The cement began to slowly crumble, toppling one on the other, breaking each other and widening the hole. She fired three more times at the sides.

They both stood at the side as Mrs. Jones, Texas and the six other men began to climb up and go through the hole with the effort to not hurt themselves. Texas thought stood at the hole and motioned for them to go through.

Before she could say anything, Alex placed his hands under Carter's arms and hefted her up onto the pile. She latched onto the rubble and smiled back at him.

Like a mouse going into their hole, she put her feet in first and with one solid push went through without any other effort.

Before Alex could get in, Texas grabbed his shoulder and said, "When this is over with, I expect to know what's going on between you and that CIA girl." he finished with a smile.

Alex laughed, "As soon as you tell me why you're with MI6 and not ASIS."

Texas shrugged, "Deal."

Alex put his legs in first and pushed to fit in his shoulders, his back rasped against the rocks and his wrists were beginning to feel damp again. After an effort he was inside and Texas came close behind.

Carter was waiting for him with a gentle but dirt streaked face, Mrs. Jones had the appearance of a frightened cat catching the smell of a pit-bull.

"Down here," Carter told him as he reached her side.

The halls were empty as they ran, but the echoes of the explosion were close behind them. The ceiling was beginning to fall and as they turned the corner they didn't see the space where they had once stood collapse under the weight of the falling cement.

The lights went out and left them all in a sudden daze.

He didn't know if it was fear, knowledge or the clicking of things unbuckling, but somehow he remembered about the glasses MI6 had given him and snatched them from his pocket. Slipping them on and pressing the night vision before he could clearly see.

Everything gave a green shade just in time as a large part of the ceiling--a light still connected to it and sparking--came crashing down. Alex and Carter fell to the ground and slid on their stomachs as it hit the ground. The light shattered and sent pieces of glass exploding around them, the electricity from the bulb was snapping and the wires that had made it light were sparking and whizzing as the chunk landed an inch from their feet.

Mrs. Jones and the others leapt over it as soon as it hit, Alex and Carter were already up.

"How much farther?" Mrs. Jones demanded as the ceiling continued to rain metal and cement and the floors shake.

"two more floors and we're at the sewer." Carter said.

They continued on but found large parts of the ceiling already fallen on the ground. They ducked under and climbed over the wires and sharp edges quickly.

Alex found the fence from the floor above them an realized with dreading horror that they only had minutes before it all came crashing down on them like that part of the ceiling had on the floor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Geiger ran down the ivory-colored stairs as he saw the containers fall to the ground and the helicopters burst into flames. He had seen Carter and that guard checking the hooks but when they had finished the chaos had broken loose.

"--lex!" Carter's piercing scream had echoed about them as the first explosion had gone off but it just now registered into the old man's head now as he descended from his office.

_Lex…le--Alex! No! That impudent young girl! I should've known better than to send her down with Da'ae to the sub levels._

Alex wasn't dead. He was still alive…but weak. He had seen the guard's run and had thought himself that maybe the man was sick. Alex may've been running and ruining his plans but even he himself couldn't avoid the trickle of weakness that was flowing within him.

Several frantic people were coming up from the underground levels, like bubbles popping in a pan of boiling water.

Geiger grabbed the closest scientist by his lab-coat's collar and demanded with a voice that made the man shake even harder with fear, "What in the devil's name is going on?!"

The man was trembling in Geiger's strong fingers, his oval glasses fell off his face and shattered as he stepped on them, "I-I, sir I don't kn-know! The-the--I'm not--"

"You're no use for me!" Geiger threw him aside and limped to the doors.

Hot air mixed with the smell of heavy smoke and dust burst into the cooled warehouse as the doors flew back hard--one breaking from its hinges and the other smacking the wall to and fro like a sheet.

One by one helicopters came down, totally entrapped in blazing flames, and crashed into the containers. Some hit their sides and dented them while other tore pieces off of it. One of the helicopters whizzed as it came tail first into a container that stood only eight meters away from the warehouse that held Geiger's office, 8 years away from where he stood. The tail drove into the metal roof of the container and exploded, bursting it into pieces.

Geiger raised his hands to his face as a renewed blast of hot air came and blew in.

"NO!" he grabbed the closest guards and threw them out into the burning plateau, "Get the Soldiers out! I can't lose them!!!"

As he threw one past him he grabbed their radio and yelled into the small metal box, "Solomon! Solomon, come in!"

For a moment there was only static, no one came in on the other line. He repeated the name three more times as he climbed the stairs that lead back to his office, and as he opened the doors and found it on fire.

Books fell from the cases in flames, what was left of the fallen chandelier had caught up in the flames and the paintings on his walls were singed from the dancing flames.

A garbled voice sounded at his side as he stared at his burning possessions.

"Solomon?" he said into the radio

"Yes sir," Tourniquet's voice was barely audible.

"Where are you?" Geiger shut the warm door to close the sight of the ever-burning office.

"Underground. Floor 11."

"Have you seen Cassandra?"

"Sir, I--" there was a loud noise of people's feet and voices, Geiger could barely hear him, "I Haven't seen her since…" he went silent.

"Tourniquet!"

"She's here." he said, his voice was tinted with an edge that was holding back the black anger that had boiled within him ever since he found out about her joining Scorpia, fresh from CIA.

"Where?"

"She's with that boy. My guess is they're heading to the main labs."

"Well stop them!" Geiger commanded, "Do whatever is necessary--kill him!"

"What about Magician?"

Geiger could hear the uniformed marching of men in the background as he spoke.

"Wound her. She's still too valuable to kill."

"Yes sir,"

Geiger ran down the stairs and to the hidden elevator in the far wall.

The inside of the warehouse that contained his office was painted like the inside of a museum. Plain, cream-colored. There were several paintings on the walls and at one side there was a suit of armor that belonged to a knight and behind the armor there was another painting.

Geiger slipped his thumb on the paintings edge, a green glow came underneath it, the painting and armor split through the middle to open the elevator doors. He slipped in and pressed 11.

He needed one thing from the labs, of it wasn't destroyed already. He just needed a small sample of the I.S. serum.

Suddenly something shook the elevator violently as it reached 8. The light began flickering crazily and the ground trembling with such a force he almost fell, but the elevator continued its descent.

He raised the radio to his mouth again, "Tourniquet."

He didn't answer.

"Tourniquet, come in! Drat it, Tourniquet, answer me!"

There was nothing but static now.

The elevator door opened with a muffled hiss. As he stepped out he saw that the floor was beginning to get hot, it's tiles were cracking apart from each other and the walls were as well.

No one was there on the 11th floor, only heat that came up from the floor in waves.

Geiger slipped off his white suit coat and dabbed his eyes with the sleeve. Even with all this heat the involuntary tears came out of his eyes. He threw the coat down with his tie. It was getting too hot.

He reached for a door beside him but stopped when there was a loud explosion from below.

Geiger's knees gave way and he feel backwards. Suddenly the part of the hall that was in front of him exploded cement and light and glass burst from both walls, flames began to reach that floor from below with fiery red fingers.

He got up and began running the opposite way; more explosions sounded beneath him and made him stumble many times. He heard faint gunfire and then more explosions. Suddenly the floor gave way and had Geiger not slammed open the door to the room beside him and jumped in he would've fallen two stories below with the fire.

Even though it was dark and he couldn't see, he put his hands on the warming walls and looked for a sphere.

Julia Rothman and he had designed this plantation themselves, he knew every nook and cranny the place had. If Julia had had this place at her expense she might still be alive.

Geiger felt around high and low on the wall until finally his fingers caressed around a cold object in the shape of a sphere. He pushed it with both hands against the wall. Slowly the sphere slid in, Geiger pushed as hard as he could, he could hear the fire crackling from the other side of the door could see the orange shadows it cast across the floor.

Finally the sphere slid in and the brick wall it was in crumbled at his feet.

He ran up the hidden staircase that had stood behind the wall, counting the steps until he was about three floors up.

The lab was destroyed. He knew it. There wasn't any way it could've survived, not with so many flammable objects in its reach--all of the gases and mixtures, it was impossible. The liquid was completely destroyed, he hadn't gotten the sample.

_One floor._

Could they recreate it? What was the point now? They had lost the money the Ambassador had promised, they were losing their labs right that moment, and now they had almost lost their own experiment: Black Magician.

_No_, Geiger thought, _not a black magician. Magician's do shows, they entertain and leave teases. Cassandra has done nothing entertaining, everything she has done has always been resulted in one way: to break her even more. She hasn't been able to remove her roots from the CIA completely, from her partner Sammy._

As he continued to climb up that was when he came to his conclusion.

_Roots…of course. She isn't a black magician. But she has always been a thorn pointing to us, just waiting until we made a move and she could stab us…a black thorn…a Black Rose_.

But this would be the last time Carter failed him.

This would be the last time a plan like this failed him. Alex Rider had ruined it for a third time but it was the last time.

The next time he met him he would kill the fair haired boy himself. Ash couldn't, Carter couldn't--she had failed miserably the first time.

_Second floor._

But maybe…

An idea popped into his head.

Maybe…maybe killing Rider wasn't the answer, the way to avenge their precious reputation and regain their pride--but turning him to their side wasn't either. Death wasn't the answer and converting either, maybe it was breaking him.

If he was broken no one could use him, he couldn't help anyone--that was it.

Uselessness.

Geiger felt another tremor as he reached the third floor. He opened the door at his side and ran into the 8th floor.

None of the explosions had reached there but the tremors were shuddering more often. People were scattered in a frenzy here--they ran up staircases, crammed into elevators, and shoved everyone else aside to escape from the chaos that was surrounding them.

One guard began running past him but Geiger grabbed his shoulder and jerked him into his face.

"Get me out of here!" he demanded, he couldn't see him clearly because of the tears beginning to well up and spill over the brim, "If you don't I swear to you I'll make your death ten times worse than the one that you could experience right now!:

The blonde-headed guard looked at Geiger fearfully, nodding his head vigorously.

"Yes, sir." he said, "of course, sir. This was sir."

Turning around he yelled into his radio, "Requesting back-up. Geiger must be evacuated, I repeat--Geiger must be evacuated!"

The guard was joined by three others and they all moved Geiger forwards into the hall.

"Them!" a voice yelled, "Fire!"

Geiger saw several men in shirts that had yellow letters of MI6 or CIA, they all held their guns up and fired at them.

The bullets showering towards them mostly missed but in the back was shot in the neck and killed.

The first guard Geiger had grabbed swung the machinegun that was hanging on his back and pulled back on the lock. When he fired the bullets it was like a pattern of piercing bullets that hit several of the English and American government agents, knocking them backwards into the walls as the bullets drove into them more than twice.

"This way!" the guard yelled, still holding the gun in front of him.

They turned into a dark staircase and began running upward, the black clad guards surrounding him from all sides.

_Break him…break him…_

Those were Geiger's thoughts as he made his frail limbs run to the surface.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex stood flat against the wall as open fire happened right beside him. He couldn't tell what the agents were firing at but he refuse the let Carter, Mrs. Jones, Texas or the other men die for walking into it.

At first it was simple fires from a pistol, but soon a machine gun was firing back and throwing the men away from the dispatcher.

"There's another way." Carter told him from his side, "Let's not turn here. Just go straight."

She was standing beside him, holding onto his hand with white ash sparkling in her hair.

As he turned to answer her he saw she had a piece on the tip of her nose, but he thought it better to not mention it.

"Go back," he told the others.

Mrs. Jones--for once--didn't even bother asking why, she and the others retracted and began running down the hall.

Every step Alex took he felt like he was going to suffocate. The heat from below was coming up in waves that actually seemed to burn his eyes and make everything somewhat blurry. The ceiling was cracking more with the heat now since it was made of a simple laminate, the lights had completely stopped flickering and since they were on the fourth floor had stayed on.

Tremors vibrated the building now without stopping. He knew how an unanswered cell phone put on vibrate felt now.

A staircase came into view and they ran it without hesitation. He held onto Carter's hand as he took the stairs two at a time.

Yes, he yelled in his mind, a smile spreading on his ash smeared face, yes, yes, YES!!!

He recognized the staircase, he recognized the walls, he recognized the door! He and Carter shoved the door open, practically breaking it off the hinges.

"Yes!" Carter jumped two feet in the air, then into Alex's arms, her own wrapping around his neck tightly and her legs around his waist. He felt her hair and ash tickle his nose.

They had made it to the sewers.

As Alex held onto her tightly for those two seconds he could feel Texas's and Mrs. Jones's eyes on them, and it was because of that they he held onto her tighter and almost fell as another tremor suddenly shook them. Small chunks of cements rained down behind them, but one bounced off the wall, hitting Alex in the shoulder and scratching Carter's arm.

She jumped down and rubbed her arm saying, "Let's go!"

They continued running as the tremor continued to vibrate, but the force was so strong they could barely stand.

A large chunk of cement burst from ceiling of the sewers and crashed behind them, breaking into several pieces. One piece flew and hit Alex square in the back. He didn't think of screaming though as he caught a glimpse behind him, the pain inside him wasn't even really there anymore. The entire hallway behind them was crumbling, falling downward like a waterfall. It plummeted into the other floors with a terrible crunching sound that made Alex's stomach turn.

"RUN!" he yelled as soon as he caught sight of it.

They ran full speed and leapt over the bricks that were falling from the ceiling like maroon rain.

"Turn, turn, turn!"

They all jumped as another staircase came into view; Mrs. Jones, Texas, Alex, Carter, and four of the men jumped onto the stairs, each landing on the rickety steps on their stomachs. The other two began to launch themselves onto the stairs but the floor gave way and they fell below into the hot darkness below.

But the others didn't waste time they continued running up and reached the next floor quickly. Part of Alex wanted to go back, to help those men. He didn't know if that was how Carter or any of the others felt but now he knew it was too late to be feeling anything.

"Two more floors!" Carter gasped, "Then we get out of the plantation."

She stumbled and scraped her knee on a sharp piece of cement jutting out of the shaking ground.

"Why not just stay on the plant--" Texas didn't even finish his question when Carter jerked her arm out of his grasp. Alex bit his tongue as he knew he was going to get it.

"Because"--Carter scowled as she snapped at him--"the whole plantation is sitting on the sewers, the sewers are made of brick and in case you haven't noticed the sewer is _FREAKIN FALLING!!!!"_

They half-ran, half-stumbled as the tremor grew to a solid quake, bricks from the ceiling, floor and walls began flailing about and Alex could see the soiled water from the first level of the sewers seeping in through the cracks.

"Snappy much?" Texas whispered sharply to Alex.

"Just in life-or-death situations." he told him, a smile at the edge of his lips.

They kept running when Carter heard someone screaming.

"Alex!" she tugged at his already torn shirt harshly.

"What--?" he heard it too.

It was the shriek of a woman , but it was farther ahead and past the staircase that was now beside them.

But also past the staircase was the worst of the raining rubble. Pieces larger than basketballs crashed down and shattered, breaking into the walls and cracking them even more. The floor was breaking as well and already there were holes in it that even Texas could fall through.

"…body help!" the voice shrieked, "Please! Somebody help!"

"What're you doing?!" Mrs. Jones snapped, "we have to keep moving!"

"Someone's trapped over there," Carter told her in the exact tone she had received, "we have to help--"

"We have to get out of here!" she chastised.

"Go ahead of us," Alex said.

"What?" Mrs. Jones' face looked like it would break, " Alex, no! We can't--"

"Go up one more flight and look for a ladder, it'll lead to a sewer top and you can take it off and get out."

Alex surprised himself with how in control he sounded.

Mrs. Jones was going to say something else when Texas cut her off by saying, "We'll see you up there, kid."

Alex nodded to him.

Mrs. Jones began to say something else but Texas grabbed her by the arm and pushed her up to the stairs. She jerked away from him and grunted, running up the stairs with Texas and his men following her.

"Hurry."

Alex latched onto Carter's hand as they jogged down the hall, dodging the falling bricks as they plummeted down on them.

"Hello!" Alex called, "Hello?!"

"Anyone!" Carter yelled.

"Is anyone down here?!"

They both yelled over the roar of the tremors. But for all of their yelling they could barely hear anything except for that roar.

"HELLO!"

"Alex, watch out!"

Carter shoved him against the wall and jumped back as a block of cement came down in between them, breaking the floor and plummeting downward. It left a large split in the floor, like the way the earth open up when there's an earthquake.

"Carter," Alex gripped one hand onto the slab of brick that were jutting out of the wall he was against and leaned forward, extending his other hand to Carter.

Carter stood at the edge of the split and reached out her hand to grab Alex's, in a swift movement she jumped from the wall onto his side. Her feet brushed against the edge but he pulled her to and held onto her as they walked carefully along the split.

"Alex, maybe we were hearing things." she told him as they past the split.

She ducked her head as another spray of cement went on them, this time it had the gravel from the plantation.

"But I could've sworn--"

"Help!" the voice yelled, "Over here!"

"Go!" Alex shoved Carter in front of him again and they ran towards the drowning voice.

"Keep yelling!" Carter told her, "We'll find you!"

"Here! Please! Help!"

"Down there," Alex and Carter stopped as they both saw where she was.

Down a staircase was a pile of brick and wires at the end of them. Underneath them was a girl with her legs trapped.

"Hurry,"

They stumbled down the broken staircase and leapt off the last six steps to beside the rubble.

"Oh my God,"

It was worse than they had thought.

The bricks had landed exactly where an electrical system was and sparks, cords, and fuses were flying everywhere.

Near the electrical system was a girl, she had short cropped red hair, pale scarred and soot covered skin, and a tear-streaked dirt-filled face; a large mass of brick was on top of her legs and one of the flailing cords had wrapped around her waist--singeing the clothes she had on and burning her skin.

"We're gonna get you out," Carter told the girl, taking fingers and trying to tear the cord. She retracted several times as it singed her fingertips.

Alex began throwing off the pieces of brick from her legs as Carter messed with the cord, pulling off shards of metal and finding that some had actually knifed into her skin.

They were almost through, hardly any brick was left on her the trapped when it happened.

The final explosion.

Alex felt the blast directly under him, the woman screamed as the back of the hall crumbled, plummeting downward into the lower region of the plantation. The floor of the story above fell as the one below went down. Like dominoes, piece by piece the sewer fell in large portions. The water from above poured down as it fell; had the three not been near the wall and pressed against it it would've fallen on them.

"Get the cord off!" Alex yelled.

Carter kept pulling at it but it was too twisted, too mangled about the girl.

"It won't--"

"Get the dagger!"

Carter patted her waist and snatched it, cutting at the cords and sending sparks flying.

The falling was coming closer now, only five meters from the staircase. It was going downward like a waterfall, plummeting down and crashing as it hit the bottom.

Smoke drifted up and ashes swirled around them, heat was pressing against their faces and making them sweat.

"Got it!" Carter wiped her brow.

"Let's go." Alex lifted the girl into his and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

4 meters.

"We're not gonna make it." Carter said.

"We have to."

3 meters.

"Alex, there's nothing to run up to."

"There has to be!"

"The whole floor is completely crumbling!"

2 meters.

Alex knew what was happening, he had to find another way.

"Go back!" he yelled.

The staircase crumbled and with it went the floor above it.

Carter seemed to freeze as she ran, her legs moving but her eyes locked on her coming death.

"Carter!"

She was able to move her eyes from the fall and to Alex.

Alex looked at the cords on the wall, they each extended past the floor above--he hoped it led somewhere into the plantation.

The cascade was getting closer to them. He looked to his side and saw Carter biting her lip.

This had to work!

Alex looked for the longest cord and checked it.

1 meter.

Putting the girl on her feet he told her, "You have to held onto this! I'll be right behind you."

The girl tremblingly held onto the cord, the ground was shaking so hard that her shaking was partial to that.

"Alex, what--" Carter was beside him.

"It'll work," he told her, he brought her beside him and made her grab the cord right under his hands, "Trust me."

"But what--AAAAH!!!"

The floor gave way and they plummeted.

Alex held onto Carter's waist they fell, his other hand burned as the cord slid through his fingers. The girl above them screamed frantically as she slipped down.

The bricks rained on them and the sparks on the cords flailed. Alex felt the gravel go into his eyes as he looked up, still plummeting, and realized some part of the plantation's ground had broken and was coming down.

The cord gave a sudden jerk that made his teeth rattle in his mouth and his fingers stretch as he held on harder.

They swung forward then back into the wall, hitting themselves in their sides.

Alex held onto Carter tightly and could feel the red-haired girl's feet barely touch his fingers, wrapping around the cord to hold herself up.

His fingers were burning, his head swimming, his side felt like hot coal was being pressed against it. He felt a warm trickle go down the arm that was wrapped around the cord, the wire had cut some of the bandage on his wrists and renewed the bleeding on the cuts he already had.

"Alex…" Carter's voice had a worried edge to it, she held on more to the cord than to him--despite the way he had positioned her.

As he looked down to see her he also caught a glimpse at below.

There was nothing below but darkness. Small whiffs of smoke came up in thin wisps, swirling around the three dangling people. There wasn't a flame in sight, only drafts of warm air that had that laced smoke scent and bits of ashes that floated up into their noses and hair.

"I'm fine." he told, the arm that was around the dark-haired beauty tightened as he moved his sight from the great black hole that everything fell in--including them if they didn't hold on tight.

"Hey!" he yelled at the girl above him, moving his sight upward, "you have to climb up!"

The girl looked down at him with glassy dark eyes that looked like they could shatter in a million pieces.

"I can't!" she yelled back, her voice cracking, "The walls, it's--"

Alex swung forward a little and put his foot on the burnt weak wall; it broke, tumbling into the rest of it and going downward into the black pit.

As the wall tumbled it told him the rest of the girl's sentence.

"Pull up on the rope! Just pull!"

"Alex, there's nowhere to go." Carter said, clutching tighter to him and the cord.

"There has to be." he looked up frantically and saw that even through all the tremors the ground from the plantation were still up. Nothing had broken any holes in it, had even weakened it.

"Alex, the floors are gone. There isn't--"

Alex squinted his eyes shut and grasped Carter even tighter, she barely stifled her scream as a blast from above sounded--sending pebbles upon pebbles of gravel on them and light streamed in, showing more and more how far down that hole beneath them really was.

As he shook his head and spat out the gravel that had gotten in his mouth, Alex had never before been happier to see Mrs. Jones in his life.

She was leaning out of the hole they had made that was probably ten feet above them, Texas's head poked up above hers, he blew at the strands of black hair that tickled his nose.

"Alex! Carter!" Mrs. Jones yelled, "Hold on! We're going to pull you up out of there. Texas, move!" she shoved the large Australian in the chest and pushed him back.

She turned her head and yelled behind her. But she rolled her eyes and moved before he could hear exactly what she said.

But as she disappeared there was a slight tug on the cord and in less then a second they were being pulled up.

Slowly they rose up past the broken wall and closer to the hole, closer to getting out of this burning death trap, closer to finishing this mission, closer…to getting as normal as possible.

Alex began to pull up but then stopped as a stinging pang burst into his wrist and arm. The red-headed girl, however, forgot about her rescuers and pulled herself up quickly with her obviously well-toned arms. She pushed herself up the first time but pushing on Alex's hand, he barely held back his cry as a piece of glass stuck in the sole of her shoe cut his fingers.

She was up before they were even midway. She didn't even glance behind.

"Ungrateful person," Carter mumbled, "we should've just left her down there to die."

Alex kissed her hot forehead and said, "Not everyone is sunshine like you."

She smiled--through all this she smiled--and put her head against his shoulder.

"Hold on you two!" Mrs. Jones said, pulling the girl into the hole and into the plantation, "we'll have you up here--just hold on!"

Alex held onto Carter tighter, "When this is all over," he whispered into her ear, brushing his lips against her ear gently, "I promise you an, well, an as-normal-as-possible-considering-we-work-for-government-agencies date with a bouquet of blue roses."

Carter looked up at him, "One blue rose." she said, "Too many of them will remind me of Power Point. One's good for me."

As much as it hurt he pulled her closer to him, his hand wrapped around her lower back and her leg wrapped around his. He stared directly into her deep gray pool of eyes and kissed her.

Her warm lips tasted sweet in his mouth, her skin felt hot against his and for some reason a sweet but spicy scent seemed to fill his nostrils. His hand slipped under her shirt and he knew exactly where the tattoo of that dreadful scorpion was.

But it didn't matter.

None of it mattered.

The fact that she was his now, the fact that they weren't enemies, the fact that she was in his arms--though there was a panging pain in his hold--was all that mattered to him.

He kissed her harder, but it wasn't something of longing. It was passion. He wasn't careful with--neither she with he.

Carter lifted her hand to the back of his head but then moved it down his neck. He could feel how her hand trembled and how they held their breath, how when she separated herself from him for half a second she breathed in deep.

Slowly they still went up, and they did Alex held her close. His kiss softening like smooth marble.

When this is all over, he thought, I promise…I promise.

"NO!" Texas's scream echoed from above them, bouncing off the walls and shaking the gravel.

But it wasn't only his scream.

There was a sudden looseness in him, like he was drifting. That's when he realized that they were falling.

He and Carter dropped suddenly as the men accidentally let the cord slip, jerking their kiss to a stop and making their stomachs lurch.

The fall was so instant that Carter accidentally let go and fell down the length of Alex's side, her legs flailing and her hands reaching upward.

"Carter!" he barely grabbed her hand as the cord jerked to another stop and they were still. He tightened his grip as she dangled below him, "Carter, hang on!"

No, no, no, no! This was all going wrong! What had happened?! Why had they fallen back further down.

"Stop!" a voice from above yelled, but it wasn't at them, it was behind the hole.

"Shoot her!" it yelled, "Don't let her get away!"

There was a pattern of gunfire, several guns going off at the same time. A shriek that sounded completely inhuman emanated as the guns went off then as it suddenly stopped so did the gunfire.

Alex strained his arm as he held himself on the cord and held onto Carter tightly. One false move and she could go plummeting downward. Down into that pit of flames and smoke and ash, that pit that was more than twenty stories into the ground--No, don't think of it!

"Alex!" she shrieked.

Texas's head popped out of the hole again, sweat laced his forehead and his eyes looked like they were ready to pop they were so frightened. His leg was at the ledge of the hole, his hands pulling at the cord to pull them up. His face was bright red as he poured his strength into pulling them up.

"PULL!!" Texas yelled behind him.

The cord was pulling up quicker now, but even then he could feel the strain it had. Also he felt the heat lift off the ground that was forever and a day below them. It was hotter, ashier, smokier. It was heavy and he knew the building was ready to cave in, ready to give up.

"Carter, hang on!"

Suddenly there was a small ripping sound and they dropped half an inch.

He looked up and saw that there was a torn part in the cord, like when a knife begins to cut a rope and doesn't successfully go through. Strands of the cord were coming apart and as they went higher it gradually broke another strand.

"Hang on!" Texas yelled, pulling with all his might.

There was another tremor and it rattled them to their core.

"Hurry!" Mrs. Jones demanded, "Alex, Carter! Don't let go!"

"What hap--" Alex cried out but the odd-hair-cut woman interrupted.

"It doesn't matter! HOLD ON!"

"Alex…"

For some reason, Carter's voice held a tone that made Alex look down at her in fear. It was that fear that was in her voice.

His eyes stung as she quietly said, "Alex…it won't hold us both."

Tears brimmed her eyes, making them shine brighter than ever. But that shine wasn't one of life anymore.

As if agreeing with her the cord swayed and groaned, he feel how tight it was from their combined weight.

"Yes," he said, his words a wild, worried, frustrated, and frightened ramble, "it will, it will, Carter."

"Alex, please--"

"NO!" he yelled, "I'm not letting you go!" something was in his throat, constricting it and making it feel like it was being choked.

Carter pulled herself up with the hand that was held firmly in his. He could feel her strain as she did. She got as high as his knuckles.

He gripped onto her hand strongly but even with all his strength he couldn't avoid the shaking that wasn't only in his strain…he was afraid. He knew what she meant, he knew what was happening, he knew the common sense of the situation; he wouldn't let her go though. He wouldn't lose her. Not now. Not ever.

Carter kissed his tightened fingers softly, tears washing on them as they swept from her eyes onto his skin.

"Carter, please," his voice quavered, "please don't…just hang on…"

She looked up at him--her gray eyes, her gray jewels stared into his face, taking in the features she had fallen in love with for the last time. She smiled that dazzling smile that made it her own and with a quivering voice said for the last time, "I love you, Alex Rider."

Alex's heart seemed to stop. He shook harder now. The stinging feeling in his eyes was pouring down his face.

"Carter…please…"

She let go.

Before he could grab her hand again she pulled it back, falling freely in the hot air.

"CARTER, NO!"

The dark-haired, olive-skinned, gray-eyed CIA agent that had walked into Alex's life with a wall and had turned into his own being fell backwards into the dark pit below. Down she plummeted, never rolling in the air but simply staying with her back to the ground. Her view of Alex faded as the hot flame-filled, destroyed blackness of the plantation swallowed her.

Alex felt the heat of the darkness she disappeared into. AS she escaped his view the pit seemed to blow out hot air and smoke at him.

Swallowing Carter whole.

…Gone.

She was…gone.

"NO!"

His tears ran down his hot cheeks as quickly she had fallen from her grip. They burned his skin like hot iron, like bubbling acid as the smoke from below rose and the greatest tremor yet shook him.

"Car…" his voice was a whisper, a pained gasp.

He couldn't say her name. It hurt his chest and throat like steel knives driving into him.

_No_…

"Alex…"

He couldn't tell who had said his name. He still heard Carter's voice but it was mixed in with Texas's and Mrs. Jones's too.

Someone grabbed his shoulders as they pulled him out of the pit only seconds after she had fallen, slipped from him--Texas.

Texas held onto his shoulders and guided him away from the hole.

But for some reason Alex couldn't feel his surroundings, he could barely feel himself.

His knees felt weak, like they might buckle from underneath him; his head was spinning as lights from everywhere lilted into his view; his body felt weak, like he might shatter…his heart had.

"Where's Carter?"

He recognized Mrs. Jones voice immediately but it sounded like an echo, it was too far away.

"I think she fell, ma'am," Texas's voice held the sympathy Alex knew MI6 would never understand.

"What'd you mean fell?"

The woman kept on talking as if Alex wasn't there. He wanted to jerk from Texas's grasp and yell at her that she was gone. That she had fell. That it was all MI6's fault. That they had done it! That they were to blame! But his head felt so light he knew he would fall before the first word drifted from his mouth.

"When we pulled them up she wasn't with him. There was a tear in the cord so I think that she might've let go to…" Texas didn't bother finishing.

Mrs. Jones fell silent.

They were walking away from the hole and past the warehouses. Helicopter blades whirring in the air filled Alex's ears. He barely heard Mrs. Jones telling Texas to hurry and to get him into the helicopter.

He stumbled as he reached the plane, but Texas helped him holding onto his shoulders and guiding him.

Alex closed his eyes as he reached the plane.

He went to the farthest seat in there. The one near the tail, behind Texas. He didn't feel the wind that wafted into the helicopter and caressed his face, didn't hear the blades of the helicopter intensify, didn't feel the pressure in his ears as they lifted off the ground. He didn't feel anything.

Reluctantly he looked out the small window at his side. Out into the plantation.

Only four warehouses stood now, Geiger's office wasn't one of them. There was a large gaping hole that seemed to swallow everything, gradually it grew, swallowing one of the warehouses slowly.

There was a final explosion and the hole widened quickly. The blast shook everything loudly, caving in the last parts of the plantation and diving them into the ground. By the time they were high in the air Alex saw that what was once left of the burning labyrinth they had tried so hard to escape was now nothing but a large gaping hole in the ground. From which plumes of smoke rose and small fires caught the untouched pieces of wood. It seemed to just be a place of ashes.

So many people had died there. One of which he had loved.

Alex turned his face from the window. He hugged his legs to his chest and rested his forehead against his knees.

Hot, ash mixed tears ran from his eyes onto his face, curving with the soot and ash already on his cheeks and tracing against the shape of his lips.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the helicopter plunged downward.

It felt like he was falling.

_Falling…_

His heart had fallen and hit a pit of flames and death.

He tightened his arms around his legs.

_No…._


	16. Never The Same Epilogue

Thanks for sticking it out with me you guys! This is the last chapter--sniffle sniffle. I had so much fun writing this and seeing how you all reacted to it. Thanks for keeping me going and I hope you enjoy the ending.

I'm still thinking about if I should make a sequel or not. I don't know. Depends on how many people as me =) Again thanks! Luv you all a ton! Xoxo, Millie

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"It's good to have you back, Alex," Blunt said with a smile that was so strained and fake that Alex wanted to slap it off. The gray director's face looked like that man Everglot in _Corpse Bride _when he was inviting the Van Dort's into his home.

Alex didn't say anything. He stared at Blunt with an expression that amounted all the feelings he felt that moment for MI6: disgust.

He had felt this way the entire time he was in that wretched building. He just wanted to get out.

When the helicopter had left the plantation Alex hadn't felt a thing. He wasn't thinking clearly, his head had been fogged up. He hadn't felt the lurch downward as they arrived in England once again and didn't feel or hear the tires squealing as they landed on a private base.

To know what time it was was out of the question. Where they were in England was another.

It seemed to be raining and there was a lot of noise.

They entered into a tall building that somehow resembled the Royal & General Bank--though he knew it wasn't that hellhole. Mrs. Jones and Texas were at his side. Texas still held onto his shoulders to guide him away from the helicopter and through the back way of the building.

Once Alex had nudged off Texas's hand and almost fell. He hadn't realized how much Texas was really helping him to stand.

They led him down a hallway painted ivory and into a silver elevator.

As they went down Alex noticed one thing. No one was in the actual building. Outside several people were smoking and talking but none came in. He guessed that maybe it was too early for them to come in or something. He honestly didn't care.

They got out of the elevator and entered a large room that was pure white--the walls, ceiling, floor, even the people were dressed in white--and soon other people came over to him and took him by the arms.

Not once did Mrs. Jones tell him anything. Instead she turned as they took him and walked out, her hair doing an odd bounce as she went back to the elevator.

Texas looked at him and mouthed, "Later?"

Alex looked at him and then at the ground, shrugging.

Texas bit his lip and turned around, walking to the elevator with Mrs. Jones.

The two men that had gotten him put him in a chair and walked off. A woman came over and took off his already torn shirt, taking some of the bandage from his side wound with it.

A man came and dipped a scrub brush in a small vat of purple liquid, then he took the brush and began scrubbing his upper arm where the fake tattoo "No Mercy" was at. After five minutes the tattoo was gone and the only thing left was a patch of skin that was glowing bright red.

They didn't bother his wrists with the liquid, the cuts from the chains and cord would leave a scar there anyway. Instead they took off the gauze that she had wrapped around his wrists--pulling raw skin and making Alex hold his breath--and redressed them.

The same man that dressed his wrists began redressing his side. As he did a woman made him lean his head back. He hadn't realized a sink was directly behind him. Cool water ran through his hair as the woman massaged her slim long fingers into his spinning aching head. He wished there was someone who could do the same to the bruised feeling in his chest.

She put something into his hair that made a _squish _sound, shampoo maybe. It felt soapy but it had an odd odor.

Soon she was pouring fresh water on his head and as she finished so did the man on his wounded side.

As he stood up someone shoved some clothes into his arms and directed him to go through a door. Past the door was a room that had nothing. Just a bed. No pictures, no windows. Bed and a weirdly lit light. Was this how mental people felt when they were in the mental institution.

He slipped on the clothes slowly, it was a plain gray shirt with a pair of dark jeans. As he did he caught a looked into the metal part of the bed. It had a rim that was extremely shiny and allowed him to see his reflection.

His hair wasn't black anymore, apparently the odd-smelling-soapy-stuff had washed it out. His fair tone was back now. His own again.

The tattoo was gone, his bruises seemed darker though. But altogether--ignoring the bruises, scratches, and big white bandages--he seemed himself.

…but he wasn't. he wasn't the guy who hated everything and everyone at MI6--even though he did--because no one understood him. He had found someone who understood him, someone who knew him, someone who…loved him.

He had changed.

His reflection would always look the same, but inside he might as well be a picture turned negative.

He sighed and laid down on the bed, turning his gaze away from the familiar stranger in the metal. He tried to sleep but he couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes he kept seeing that black pit of the plantation and kept hearing her voice as she told him, "I love you, Alex Rider."

He dug his head into the pillow and felt the cloth grow warm from his own heat.

There was a knock at the door.

Alex didn't bother getting up to open it, if it was MI6 then they would just come in anyway.

But the person kept knocking until finally Alex said, "Just come in!" his voice sounded a little snappier than he had intended.

The door opened slowly and Texas peeked his head in.

Alex looked down, "Sorry." he told him, there was a tint of guilt in his voice as he apologized.

Texas shrugged, closing the door, "'S okay."

Alex sat further back on the bed until his back touched the wall, his feet were hanging limply at the edge of the bed.

"How you doing?" Texas asked.

Alex shrugged. His hair was longer now since the beginning of the month, it shaded his eyes and didn't really let Texas see him.

"I promised you that I'd tell you the reason why I'm with MI6." Texas rambled, "I thought I'd tell you now if you're up to it."

Another shrug.

Texas nodded, "Okay."

He sat down on the floor, cross-legged and clasped his hands together. Alex barely noticed. He just looked down at his legs.

"Well, uh…I guess after you left all of ASIS heard about your godfather"--Alex hid his cringe, something he'd learned to do well since the Snakehead mission--"and well Brooke decided to set an example out of him. Not in a bad way, Alex, he just decided that maybe all of his agents shouldn't stay clustered in one place. Like he sent away all of my group. Two of them went to France, three more went over to Africa and me and two other guys came here to MI6. When they told me that you and another agent had called for help I told them I was coming, and they didn't object. They were actually approving of it."

"They don't do that a lot." Alex said in monotone, "Usually you have a one-time-nice pass. You just used yours up."

Texas chuckled, "I suppose you're right, mate. So that's why I'm here. But we're only staying till the end of the month."

Alex kept his arms crossed, you couldn't even tell he was actually breathing. He was stiller than a statue in central park. He knew it was his turn to talk.

His throat was feeling tighter now and the words couldn't seem to leave his mouth.

"Alex," Texas's voice was softer now, more sincere, "you don't have to say anything. I don't expect you to. Not now."

But he had to. The black thorns scraping his heart was more than he could stand. The words were bubbling up in him like a hot boiling pot of water with a lid. If he didn't let them out than he would explode like a cannon.

"It's fine," those two words were barely audible since he had mixed them in with a breathe of air. He breathed in a deep breath and his throat seemed to lessen in tightness as he spoke:

"She…Carter was different. I met her at my school and the first thing that happened between us was…well, a fight…"

For the next hour he told him of the dark-haired girl. The girl he had lost just a few hours ago. He told him of the cafeteria fight, how she'd acted in the plane on their way to France and how she'd put down on of the French agents that had tried to shove her in a car because of a hurry.

He told him about the school, how they would never separate even though they both irritated each other severely. He also told him about their sneaking off to scout the warehouses, how that had been the first time he'd actually seen her as a girl and not as a smart-aleck agent who needed an attitude adjustment.

His throat started hurting again as he went from there, he didn't know if it was him just thinking it or maybe it was actually really dry. He hadn't drank or eaten anything in hours.

He rambled past the ball and straight into when they had called MI6. He wasn't much for telling stories right then. Not when his throat felt welded shut.

"So yeah," Alex finished, "that's about it."

He had never moved while he told the story. His arms were still crossed and his head slanted down to look at his knees. Texas had shifted all about though, from pacing to sitting on the bed, to back on the floor and now he was leaning against the wall with a a foot against it and another on the floor.

"You okay, kid?" he asked.

Alex bit his lip. Again. Yes…no.

Physically yes. He was still in a piece. Mentally, emotionally, hah!

"Yeah." it was mixture.

"I'm sorry." he said.

Alex shook his head, "No…I am."

Texas was about to say something when the radio at his side had gone off, saying, "Green group back to camp. I repeat, Green Group back to camp."

He grunted and shut off the radio.

"I gotta go, kid," he said, reaching for the knob, "I left mine and the boys' cell with Mrs. Jones. You can ask for 'em whenever you leave. You know maybe we can do a cook out again, without almost getting you killed this time." he tried his best to smile.

Alex didn't. He sat there. Still, silent…hurting.

"Okay, then," Texas's voice was still soft as he took the rejection and walked out of the room.

Alex let his arms loose and fell face down onto the pillow.

He dug his hands underneath the semi-soft-semi-itchy pillow and tried his best to breathe even though the thing was blocking his nostrils from air. It only made his chest hurt more and his throat feel drier.

There was something black raking his heart, like a thorn tearing it open and taking everything that had comforted it. The barbed feelings in there were turning rancid, turning black from everything he knew.

Slowly the pillow began to dampen in a small circle. He felt his face get wet with it too, the front strands of his hair were already wet and the upper part of his neck were wet now too. Somehow--he didn't even know how it was possible--and slowly he gave into his weakness, he gave into his sleep. But all through his dreams he just kept seeing a black pit, it was endless, it was hot, it was practically hell. He kept feeling her slip from his hands and from his heart. He kept hearing her velvet voice, kept seeing those strange, exotic gray eyes…kept feeling her tears and lips. Slowly the dreams drifted into something of the future, he could see them older, still working for MI6 and CIA. Partners. But he would always wake up gasping and sweating and felt the need for a cold shower.

3 hours later he was in Blunt's office. Slouching in his seat, he had his legs extended and his arms grasping the chair tightly. He refused to talk to Blunt unless necessary. So he kept his lips welded shut and his eyes on the desk. His hair was in his face, there were dark circles under his eyes and he knew they probably looked puffy and red.

Mrs. Jones was sitting beside Blunt's desk with an expression Alex knew only agents who felt nothing could make.

She was dressed in long black pants that hung loose around her legs, a white silk shirt with a black suit jacket over it and a silver chain necklace that reached the top of the pants--a peppermint in her mouth as always.

Blunt was the same. Gray suit, gray slick back, gray office, gray face, gray pigeons. No changes. Alex didn't expect any.

"You and that CIA agent--" he continued talking.

"CIA agent" wouldn't suffice Alex. He felt himself cringe as he said her name, "Carter." he snapped.

Blunt flinched--actually flinched!--as Alex corrected him.

"Forgive me," he said, "You and Carter had planned out what to do in the warehouses perfectly"--a compliment?--"the plantation and everything in it was burned to the ground. Completely destroyed."

Alex felt the black dagger in him stab his heart again.

"Scorpia failed for a third time. I would've honestly thought that twice was their limit but I guess with two executives dead they--"

"Two?" Alex interrupted again, he hadn't spoken anything but her name in a while that his voice actually rasped, "What happened to Geiger?"

Mrs. Jones shifted uneasily, swinging one leg on the other and putting her elbows on her knee, "Max Geiger got away. His guards were able to get him out while we were still underground. He escaped, but his assistant Solomon Tourniquet died in the fire. Apparently fire was another weakness for the Soldiers."

Alex gripped harder onto the chair, his knuckles turned white the hold. He bit his lip and breathed out, trying to keep himself from saying anything.

"You know," she continued, the way she talked made Alex's stomach boil with fury, it was too nonchalant, "I was sent there with 150 men. Altogether we only lost 8. If it hadn't been fro you two helping it might've been more.

Alex closed his eyes. They were stinging and he could feel the wetness glaze over them. His face and ears were beginning to feel hot now and he knew if he didn't relax he was going to lose it.

"Alex," Mrs. Jones's voice was going with an attempt to be softer; she leaned toward him, "I know this is hard for you right now, after everything that's happened--how could it not?--but because of everything that's happened I really need your cooperation."

He bit down on his lip harder now and gripped the chair tighter.

"Alex, how were they able to capture you? Out of every mission that's happened you were never captured easily. Nadia Vole told you she was MI6, Ash…" she didn't finish, "Alex, how did this happen?"

Inside Alex had a sudden cold feeling in his stomach and chest, it seemed to freeze over him and surround him, it seemed to hold the knife in him and stab it down further and further.

"Inside help." he said curtly.

The assistant's face took on a confused look, "Inside…?" then one of understanding. Hard understanding. Alex could practically hear the gears in her robotic mind twist and turn as the information transferred and another piece of knowledge turned into the unfeeling file they always made after a mission.

"Alex, how did Carter know those halls, those staircases?" her words sounded more impatient now than before. She wasn't waiting for him to tell her different, she was waiting for his confirmation.

Alex bit down on his lip until it was numb and closed his tightly.

"Alex,"

He felt like he was back at the house he had and Jack was trying to make him to tell her the thing he had done wrong.

He kept his eyes shut as he told them the truth, "Carter was the inside help. She worked for Scorpia and was undercover in the CIA. She was a…" he couldn't say it, he couldn't say traitor. She wasn't one…technically, "like Ash. She knew their plans from the beginning and agreed to go with CIA this time to accomplish what Scorpia hadn't been able to do the last two times.

"She was that captured me, she set me free, she killed Tourniquet, she helped set off the bombs, she was the one who helped us get out and she was the one who fell back into that pit because _you guys_"--his eyes snapped open, they were bloodshot and glazed--"couldn't keep a hold of the stupid rope!

"So you know what--no, eight people didn't die, nine did! Count it as a freaking nine!"

He was almost out of the chair now. As he had yelled he had gradually lifted and now the only thing that was keeping him from launching at Blunt and out the window was his grip on the chair.

Mrs. Jones was silent again, looking down at the notebook she was holding. It looked oddly familiar to Alex at that moment. Blunt just sat in his chair as unnerving as ever. His stillness made Alex's stomach bubble with rage.

He slumped back into the chair and knew it was his turn now. His turn to poke and probe, his turn to get the answers _he _wanted and not what _they _wanted.

"What happened back there?" he asked, staring at the desk again, "When you were pulling us up, everyone let loose of the rope and there was gunfire and this-this screaming that didn't even sound _human _just bounced off the walls and…"

He looked at Mrs. Jones now, his face tight and determined. He knew his eyes said more than what they needed to.

At first she fidgeted with the notebook that was still in her grasp, but then she inhaled deeply and straightened.

"That girl that you and Carter rescued from the rubble wasn't a normal girl--she was a Soldier. An incomplete one at that. They brought back the body and studied her in these past six hours and the chemical only got half of her brain. She had split personality. When you two rescued her human side, her actual self begged for help. But once she was up there the Soldier side took over. It killed one of Texas's men and began attacking the other ones. They lost focus and let go and had Texas not noticed you might've been down there with Carter."

Alex stared at her, unbelieving.

"The gunfire was the rest shooting at her and--"

"Where were you?" Alex's three words seemed to stun her for a moment.

"Ex-excuse me?"

"Where were you to help Texas? To help his men? I remember you telling us to hold on then I remember you not being there until I was near the plane. _Where _were you?"

She chewed on her peppermint thoughtfully.

"I was…I--"

"If your thinking about giving me actual lying bull-crap I beg to differ."

"Alex, it doesn't matter." Blunt cut in, "What happened, happened, you can't change. You can wish to go back as much as want but the reality is you can't. You never will."

Alex looked at Blunt, gripping the chair harder now.

"And you know, Alex, it was for the better. She was a traitor. That's all there is to it. She betrayed us and almost killed you. She was a _traitor." _

"You don't anything about her!" Alex leapt up now, knocking the chair over and banging his fist on the desk, "She never betrayed anyone! She helped your oh so precious _assistant_"--he cast a glare at Mrs. Jones--"get out. She helped burn that place to the ground.

"Don't ever--!" he banged on the table a final time and as he did two large security guards came into the desk and walked to his side.

"Are there any problems, Mr. Blunt?" one asked.

Alex stared at the man with a rage that burned so quickly he felt like a fire had just devoured a Kleenex.

"Of course not," Blunt told them. But they didn't move, they stared down at Alex and kept their hands steadily ready.

Alex exhaled and shook his head once, "I want to go home."

His voice had lost all the volume it once had and now sounded like a weak whisper.

"Of course, Alex," Blunt said, picking up the phone on his desk from the hook, "Let me get a taxi--"

"I'd rather walk."

He kicked the chair aside and pushed one of the guards out of his way.

He had his hand on the doorknob and was about to open the door when Mrs. Jones said, "Alex, wait."

He paused.

She held the notebook tightly and walked over to him. Her heels quieted as she stopped beside him. He looked at the door, he couldn't bear the look of her face right now.

She exhaled and extended her hand to him, pushing the book forward at him, "Take it." she said softly, "It was Carter's. She had been going to Brookland about a week before you came back from the Scorpia mission. It has a lot of things you might want to read. A lot about her. Take it."

Alex looked at the notebook. No doubt it was Carter's. There was a black heart with purple wings and a gray halo above it at one corner, a pair of black wings with the top of a head poking out of them, a round skull with small dots as eyes and the word "Rebel" in Batik Regular letters.

As much as he wanted to take the notebook from her, he found he couldn't. MI6 wasn't gonna trick him again. And he thought that he'd prove it.

He grabbed the book and flipped it to the back. The brand of the notebook was in bold letters but Alex grabbed the ends and bent it as far as possible. There was a snap, a click, and a whizzing dying sound. A red flash went throughout the notebook and the tracker inside it was broken.

Mrs. Jones stared at him, unbelief written on her face.

Alex handed the broken notebook back to her and said, "I know your ways. I've been at this point eight times. I'm not that kid you guys recruited for the first time anymore. I've seen more than I what I should've, done things I should've never dreamed of, and heard things I'll never say.

"And all I can say to you all"--he looked at her then at Blunt, this was his turn to speak the truth--"I don't see how my dad, my uncle, and my godfather could've worked for you.

"I hope MI6 goes to hell."

He opened the door, walked out and slammed it shut.

Mrs. Jones jacket flapped a little from the air the door slamming caused. With her hands around the notebook she turned back and looked at Blunt.

She barely shook her head and her voice was still soft, "How could you?"

She walked to him. Dropping the book on his desk she demanded, "how could you, Alan? You put a tracker in her notebook just when I was going to give it to him!"

"It wasn't meant for him." Blunt said, "It was for her."

"For her?" Mrs. Jones let her hands be idle at her sides.

Blunt opened the notebook and flipped the pages, opening it to a certain one.

Mrs. Jones closed her eyes as she saw what he meant.

On the page, in pencil and black marker was a large doodle. Perhaps when Carter had been bored and hadn't paid attention. But it was there. Full and clear.

A scorpion, separated in places but still silver, was there. The letters "S", "C", "O" and a line inside them was all there was left of the Black Magician.

* * *

Alex walked down the sidewalk quickly, avoiding anyone that looked at him--or rather his bruises and bandages--and straight to his destination. Squinting he could see his uncle's white two story house with the tall thin black bar gate fenced around the grounds.

It was still pretty cold, January wasn't nice in England. But he didn't feel the chills that were traveling up his bare arms and face. It was like some weird shield was around him and was blocking off his senses, except for the one that told him he was close to home and that it was going to be over soon.

"Aren't you cold?" a girl in a black jacket and red scarf asked him as he passed. He ignored her and kept walking.

Obviously the shield wasn't strong enough to block off everything because as soon as she said that he started feeling a slight chill. He rubbed his arms and watched his breath go up in misty puffs as he blew out. (I listened to a song that I think really set the mood for this scene. Idk I just felt it for some reason. It's called "Lost" by Red if you wanna listen to it J )

_You're such an idiot, Rider, you should've gotten a coat!_

He stopped dead in his tracks as the voice filled his head. He spun around and accidentally ran into a woman who was wearing a white jacket.

"Watch your step," she said sweetly.

He ignored her and tried to find Carter's voice.

Taking a step backwards he touched the cold, frost-skimmed light post beside him on the sidewalk's corner.

"Carter?"

He looked behind him and saw the house was closer now. Jack obviously had the fireplace going--strange, she didn't like having to mess with the wood and getting the coal smeared on her, which she faithfully did when she even thought about the fireplace--because the chimney was smoking.

_Get in the house, Rider, before you freeze! _

Alex looked around for the voice again, this time walking as he looked everywhere.

Snowflake's were starting to float down now, melting on his arms, hair and face. The chill he hadn't felt was practically vibrating him now.

He began running through the streets to get to his house.

He swung open the gate and ran up the stepping stones in the grass, almost slipping as he stepped on one covered in ice.

He took the steps two at a time and jumped on the porch, knocking on the door.

He was shivering pretty bad right now. His breaths in thicker clouds of fog than before. He looked around and saw the porch swing covered in settling snow, the chairs blanketed in it as well. The trees had icicles dangling from their branches, like daggers ready to plummet to the ground.

Daggers…

The shield came back.

He remembered why he had come home so quickly, why he'd walked instead of taken a free taxi.

He stood uneasily at the door, moving from foot to foot. Wasn't Jack home? He knocked two more times.

The dagger that Blunt was practically stabbing through him had become too much to take, too much pain, too much numbness. Had he not left Blunt's office so quickly they might've questioned him some more, drove the dagger in deeper. Even when they had questioned him what they had it he had been trying to hold back his urge to grab Blunt by the collar and tell him three-fourths of his mind--which wasn't exactly suitable to tell an executive of Special Operations MI6. But did he care--nope.

"Jack!" he knocked again.

The way Blunt had said all those things about Carter, the way he had toned them. It was venom coming from a cobra.

_They need a snake catcher to put them both in a zoo, _Alex thought.

Suddenly there was a quick but loud rumble in the house and the door flew open.

Jack stood there at the door with her bright red hair half pulled up in a messy ponytail, an oversized t-shirt and polka-dotted mini shorts and robe, staring at Alex with half-concern half-joy.

He assumed the joy had taken over when she flew into his arms and tightened hers around his neck.

"Oh, Alex" she exclaimed, "Oh, honey!" she kissed his cheeks and forehead, "oh, sweetheart, you're home!

"Oh my God, what've they done to you!" she lifted his hands to her face, motioning at the bandages, then held them tightly.

"Oh, Alex," she hugged him again, but this time quickly retracted and put a cold-fingered hand on his cheek.

"Alex? Sweetie, what's--something's wrong. What happened? What did those freaks do this time?"

Alex knew she could see the tears that glazed his eyes, the ones that he batted away stubbornly. Jack knew him too well not to.

"Alex, what bull did they put you through?"

He shook his head. The shield was gone again.

"Jack, I…I can't even believe it myself. I just-I just want to sleep right now. Can I tell you later?" his voice broke involuntarily at his last word.

A tear went down Jack's pale, freckled face but she nodded. Alex knew she was worried about him.

"Okay, kiddo," she smoothed out his hair, "Come on . Get some rest."

She held his arm as he went in, but he slipped out of her grip and ran up the stairs to his room before she could say anything.

He opened the familiar door and slipped in. Slouching onto his bed, he put his arm over his face and let several ragged breaths.

_You finally got inside, huh? _Carter's voice told him, _Now let's be double smart and sleep. _

_No…_

Alex felt himself fighting with the part of his mind that was trying to be Carter. The part that Carter had practically taken over.

_Alex, you need rest. _

_I need you. _

_Alex…_

Something vibrated in his pocket. He uncovered his face and reached into his pocket, taking out his phone and staring at the screen.

NEW MESSAGE

He clicked the open button but his phone blinked. It jumped to the inbox then back to the home screen, his wallpaper staring straight at him.

He found there was a stinging sensation in his head as he stared at the picture of Tyler, Ed, Jay, Dawnsey, Carter and him.

Dawnsey was taking the picture and her arm was visible from where she stretched it out. Ed, Tyler and Jay were around Dawnsey and Carter and he had their heads near each other.

Alex gripped the phone as the stinging sensation got worse.

_NO…_

With all his strength he threw the phone. It bounced off the wall and hit the things on his dresser.

He turned over and put the pillow over his head.

He forgot it was Sunday. Usually on Sundays he and Jack slept in, that's why she'd been in her pajamas when she answered the door. He'd smelt the hint of toothpaste in her breath as she hugged him and exclaimed.

Every Sunday his alarm would go off at ten, he hated sleeping in later than that. But instead of the beeper the radio went off.

It seemed the world was trying its best to kill him slowly.

"Broken" played. The song that had played when he and Carter had admitted their feelings and shared their first kiss.

"No," he whispered, "no, no, NO!"

He grabbed the clock and threw it against the wall, it shattered into chunks of wire and plastic.

He leapt from his bed and kicked at the dresser, throwing the wooden furniture onto the ground. Everything on his wall tumbled down as it fell, hitting him on the head and shoulders. He fell to the ground and put his head to the floor.

"Why?!" he yelled to himself, "Why?! Carter, you didn't have to let go!"

Jack burst into the room, her robe billowing as she jumped over the dresser and over to him.

She immediately fell on her knees and lifted his torso, wrapping her arms around him.

Alex put his head on her shoulder and sobbed, his cries mixed with gasps and shudders.

'"It's okay," she whispered. "I'm not gonna ask, kiddo, just let it out. I don't know what bull they did this time. But you don't have to tell me right now."

"She didn't have to let go!" he yelled into her shoulder, "She should've just held on! Just another second! She didn't have to die!"

Jack began to rock back and forth. Alex knew he looked like a child right now, crying in his keeper's arms and snotting like a brat. But he didn't care.

It hurt. It hurt like a thousand burning knives plunging into his heart and chest. He wanted to roll into a ball and never face the world again. He considered it then.

"She…didn't…she didn't…have.." his words were more gasps than actual speech.

Like a child he sobbed tears and snot all over Jack's shoulder, like a child he held tightly to her, like a child he wished there was nothing in the world that could hurt him as bad as this. But he knew as the agent he had been forced to become that it wasn't going to happen.

Everything was a damage, everything hurt. It was like he was made of bubble wrap and suddenly he was going through a tight wall of spikes and needles and knives.

He felt bruised as he sobbed and battered.

_Carter…why?_

Somehow, there was a weakness in him that let him close his eyes relaxed and the sobs relaxed too. Somehow he found the weakness to sleep.

* * *

Alex's eyes flashed open and he sat up straight. His chest, arms, and neck were skimmed with sweat and his breath came in heavy pants. His head felt heavy and his eyes burned like there was salt in them.

He'd woken from a nightmare. The scene in the warehouses had played in his terrorizing and he hadn't been able to break himself free from its haunting. He didn't know it but that would be the nightmare that he would endure for forever, until peace found him again and the ghost of his past finally disappeared.

Rubbing his puffy eyes he tried to remember where he was.

Home. Why did it feel different?

He looked over at where his clock…_had _been. He clicked his tongue when he remembered the episode that had caused the clock to be over there…shattered…no longer working. He knew what she would have said here.

_You got mad, threw stuff, grabbed clock. End of clock._

He smiled as he remembered the sound of her voice. It was so strange to remember her now he knew. She seemed so…distant? Was that the word…no. No it couldn't be. He knew how she had been. It was like the perfect evanescent time that he had had. She didn't even seem real. She seemed too good to be real. And the way she was taken from him, jerked from him, taken…it was like she wasn't real at all. He had nothing of her. The only thing left from her was that notebook MI6 had had, but he had done away with it in front of them because of that ridiculous tracker.

_She was real, Alex, _he thought to himself, running his fingers through his semi-wet hair, _don't ever forget that. Never forget that. _

It was nighttime, he knew that much. Maybe eight or nine, the sunset's final color splashing rays were still fading from view. He stared out the window for a moment, looking at the shorter houses and seeing the sidewalk curve around the corner and disappear against some leafless snow-covered trees that stood like scraggly tall weeds sprouting from the sidewalk itself. Small dark prints were in the snow from where people walked and Alex could see that a lot of the prints were still there and that people were still walking in the freezing cold.

He blew on the window, making a breath spot and taking his finger and drawing up and down, lines of just a sort. He stared at the lines. They made an odd type of "X" he noticed. He liked it.

He crawled away from the window and got up from his bed, feeling around the floor with his foot expecting the dresser to still be down. He found it upright again and against the wall, all the stuff that was on it--besides the glass things that broke when he kicked it--were on the top again.

Leaning against the dresser, he slipped off his shirt and breathed for a moment. His side was hurting him again. He vaguely wondered if the wounds he always s got would eventually fade? Like when you put scar scream on a scar it leaves, but there's always that little spot that show you had a scar. He wondered if it would be the same for him. AS he thought he turned on the scar and found that he had bled through the stupid white bandage.

_Jack's gonna flip, _he thought.

Walking to his desk he found his phone. He slumped down in the spinning chair and slid his phone open, pressing the MENU button quickly--he didn't want to see the picture right then.

He found four unread messages.

_Aren't I loved?_

Two were from Jay, one from Tyler and one from Tom.

Jay's and Tyler's were the similar, a basic question. "Where are you?", "The ball's over, where the heck are you and Sil?"

Alex didn't bother replying. He instantly pressed the mark button, chose the messages and deleted them. Tom he did reply to though.

"Heard u were 'sick' again. And that now ur 'better'. Coming to school 2morrow?"

Alex replied with a simple, "Yeah."

He put the phone back on the desk and stared at it. The wallpaper was displaying brightly.

For a moment that was what he did, just stare at the past that he would never have back. Right then he felt a longing, a longing to turn back the hands of time and to change the wrong to right, to get rid of the lingering gray clouds that hung over him…to ease the pain.

Without truly thinking he plugged a cord into the phone and plugged it into his computer. With a few clicks and beeps the picture was on his computer screen. With another click the picture was printing out.

Took the piece of paper and folded it into a square, getting up from the chair and going to the dresser to slip the picture into his drawer. He knew that he couldn't really look at it now, but if it in the future he could he wanted to know it was there.

He closed the drawer and slipped out of his room.

Since he was barefoot he didn't make a sound leaving the room, maybe a squeak or two but that was normal in the big old house. But it was better for him. Because he made no sound Jack didn't know that he was up and that meant he didn't have to fake to be in more pain than what he was in to avoid one of her bone-crushing you-look-like-a-mess-but-I've-missed-you-so-much-and-if-you-would've-died-I-would've-killed-you hugs. As he went down the steps he could hear she was on the phone.

"…mean intimate?" she sounded cross.

He hurried down the stairs and dashed into her room. She was using the house phone in the kitchen so he thought he would listen in on the one in her room. He jumped onto the green bed, put on of her odd fuzzy blue and pink pillows under his chest and grabbed the clear phone, putting it to her ear.

Eavesdropping wasn't something he liked to do in particular but something in him told him he probably should this time.

"We're not too sure what happened."

He stopped breathing. It was Mrs. Jones. No wonder Jack was cross.

"When we paired them up they all but liked each other, they barely accepted being in the same room together."

"But obviously in this past month they ignored the fact that they hated each and got together?"

Alex caught on to who they were talking about sooner then he thought he would and was beginning to think about hanging up.

"We're not sure--"

"You said they kissed, how much more together do you want two teens to get?!"

"I understand."

"So this chick was part of the CIA and I'm guessing she went back and they broke up? No wonder Alex was all--"

_If only it were that simple…_Alex thought.

"No. Something happened while they were trying to leave the enemy lines and she lost her life."

Jack shut up.

Alex bit down on his lip.

_Bull! You make it sound like she wanted to die!_

"She…died?"

"Honestly Cassandra--or Carter as she went by--was a true patriot."

_Patriot??!_

"What'd do you mean?"

"Alex, will have to tell you. We didn't get the full details. When Alex returns we'll expect them though. it's needed--"

" 'When Alex returns'?" Jack started laughing harshly, "Returns?! You think I'm actually gonna let him go back to you again? Heck to the freakin no! This is the last time!

"The only reason he went the last time was because of Ash! Alex almost died and Ash did. This time he almost died again and you're other agent did. If he would've it would've been your fault but also mine because I let him go with you hags! No more! I'm not putting his life in danger again!"

"Miss Star--"

"NO! You guys didn't kill him physically but you've all but drove him mad emotionally! He came back practically broken and I didn't know why--now I do! Thank you!

"Don't ever, ever, EVER think about calling him for another mission. If you do I won't be as calm as I am now. So you know in the civilized way I'd say good bye have a rotten life but in my own way I'm saying got to hell to mother--!"

Alex hung up the phone before Jack could catch him. He got out of her room and went into the bathroom down the hall.

_It's not the last time, _he thought, _it's never the last time. They'll just threaten me again to do something for them. They'll never leave me alone. _

He went to the sink and splashed water onto his hot face, feeling the cold water warm instantly the moment it touched his skin.

Alex had never head Jack as upset as she was then. He never heard her explode in such a way before. He was actually half-afraid to get out of the bathroom and face her. But then he knew she wouldn't be like that to him. She loved him too much to be that harsh. But then of course he was thinking of the love towards that fourteen year-old boy that hadn't ever done a more dangerous thing besides popping a wheelie on his bike and breaking his arm in his life.

He dried his face and decided to look in the mirror.

He was the same, but he wasn't.

Back in February--when he'd done his first mission--he'd looked like a normal fourteen-year-old boy. Young, bright, energetic--actually younger. But not anymore. In just those few months he begun to look older. He could've past for sixteen or seventeen, maybe even eighteen. His eyes looked so aged like they didn't even belong to him. But to an older person who'd seen more than his fair share of life.

_That's the short version of it…_

He sighed as he painfully realized that his "Yea" reply to Tom's message was more than true. HW would go back to school' he would try to be Alex Rider, the kid with the sucky immune system, not Alex Rider who'd been strangled, beat, knifed, and shot.

A mask. That's what he'd put on. A mask where no one would suspect him. Not of him almost dieing, and not of him loving Carter.

Ironically, he remembered a scene from _The Phantom of the Opera_--Carter had said it was the only musical that hadn't been completely gay.

"Masquerade," he quoted, "every face a different. Hide your face in a mask so the world will never find you.

"Masquerade…"

* * *

**Epilogue**

With a hurting bloody hand she moved what she thought was a layer of rubble from her head. With the other hand--broken as it was--she pulled three cords and a wire from her shoulder. She coughed as dust and ash lifted from the ground and got into her mouth, singeing her throat.

Extending her arms she reached for something sturdy and began to pull herself up.

"AAH!" Pain lanced into her side as she drug herself out of the rubble.

As she looked down she saw a thin piece of steel that had been used for holding the building up broken in half--now three feet long--and through her side. It was buried in her like a pin in a pin cushion, blood gushing as she moved.

Her legs were under a layer of bricks and plaster from the ceiling of the sewer and she knew for a fact that one was broken, the pain in it was a blinking lighthouse in her sea of wounds.

She felt broken. Her body was like one huge scar, dirty and infected, causing more damage than what there ought to be.

She tasted that blood and ash that was on her lips and could feel it trickle from her head, brow and cheek. He hands felt singed and she knew there was a massive oozing burn on her shoulder.

Holding her breath she pulled again, screaming a blood-curdling shriek as he legs slowly scraped out from beneath the bricks and metal.

Tears mixed with dirt on her face as she found the pain unbearable. When she looked up her vision flickered and everything was changing colors rapidly. When she felt nausea come over her she put her face against the ground again, resting. She was exhausted from that short distance of pulling.

_Blast it! _she yelled in her mind, cursing as she breathed.

Suddenly there was a crunching noise in front of her.

Forcing her heavy eyelids to open she raised her head and saw through her flickering tunnel-vision a pair of white shoes in front of her.

Straining her neck she looked up into the face of an old, wrinkled, white-haired man. His face filled her mouth with bile.

"Welcome back, Cassandra." Geiger said with a voice that very much belonged to a snake or spider.

_Geiger…_

Carter lifted herself with her elbow, a scream of curses at the tip of her tongue. But she was too weak and no adrenaline pumped in her. Her strength sapped and she fell back against the ground, giving into the darkness that somehow gave her a chilling comfort.

The End


End file.
